The Miami Heat had a celebratory night on Sunday, as they not only won against the Charlotte Hornets, but also honored Dwyane Wade, who was elected into the Naismith Hall of Fame last year. Pat Riley surprised Wade during halftime by announcing that an eight-foot statue of him would be built outside the Kaseya Center.
Looking back, Wade is known for declaring “This is my home!” at every amazing moment involving him inside the Heat’s arena, but now he has even more cause to say it. When addressing to the media at halftime, he compared the experience to Michael Jordan receiving a statue for his great days with the Chicago Bulls.
I definitely feel that gives me a little bit more ability to be able to say that this is my house,” Wade went on to explain. “It was not anything I made up. But it is something I grew up knowing about. Michael Jordan was honored with a statue in Chicago. That was my first encounter with a statue. And so to be able to, to be at this moment in my life, where I know that I felt the same feeling when Jordan had his statue.”
The Miami Heat’s head coach Erik Spoelstra and former player Dwyane Wade are pictured in front of the Kaseya Center, beside the same artists who created Jordan’s statue.
As a result, Wade’s comparison to Jordan makes sense given that he is from Chicago, Illinois and grew up watching him play for the Bulls. Funny enough, the same folks who made Jordan’s statue will do Wade’s as well: Omri Amrany and Oscar León of Fine Art Studio Rotblatt Amrany said in a statement to Ira Winderman of The Sun Sentinel.
“We are honored and excited to capture the essence of Dwyane Wade,” the statement read. “It is a privilege for both the athlete and us as artists to create a statue that honors a lifetime of excellence.” We’ve been dreaming about this for years, and it’s finally a reality!”
Erik Spoelstra responding to the news that Wade received the statue.
The comments from Heat players and coaches varied from emotional to excited, demonstrating the number of individuals Wade has impacted throughout his time with the franchise. As a result, Miami head coach Erik Spoelstra told ClutchPoints after the Hornets win that he had chills when the announcement was made.
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