The Miami Heat unveiled a statue of franchise legend Dwyane Wade outside Kaseya Center on Sunday.
The statue has been in the works for a month and was a way to honor Wade, who won three NBA titles with the Heat and is the franchise’s all-time leading scorer. The statue is escorted across a wall that records the achievements of its occupation.
Wade was very happy to see the statue in person, but many quickly realized that the face didn’t look particularly accurate. Even Wade himself perceived that he was laughing modestly at it.
“That’s crazy. I can’t believe it. Who is that guy?” he stated.
Wade, who is officially the first Warmth player with a statue outside the team box, seemed to take it in stride. But there were quite a few people on Twitter who had stronger reactions to the illusion of Wade’s face inside the statue.
A statue is an excess of honor and Wade deserves to be celebrated for everything he did in Miami, but this did not do him justice. Then again, Wade hasn’t been the only one with unflattering statues of late.
Here’s a look at the five worst sports statues in new history:
1. Cristiano Ronaldo
This statue, inaugurated at Madeira airport in March 2017, received numerous complaints for being unflattering towards soccer star Cristiano Ronaldo. The sculptor behind it, Emanuel Santos, tried to redeem himself with another statue a day later and that one turns out to have received better reviews.
2. Walter Johnson
This statue was once intended to depict one of the most perfect pitchers in MLB history, Walter Johnson, for a month in action, but the deal didn’t end up as expected.
As revealed by the Washington Times, his grandson called the statue “ghastly,” “ridiculous,” “not even close,” and “uncomfortable.”
3. Dwyane Wade
The statue’s face certainly shows a lot of emotion, but a lot of the comments related to it were about how Wade and others look a little used in this sculpture.
4. Harry Caray
This was dedicated to Harry Caray, one of the greatest broadcasters in baseball history, and the one who coined the term “Holy Cow!” Having a statue outside of Wrigley Farmland is quite an honor, but unfortunately the base of the statue gives off a creepy ghostly vibe.
5. Diego Maradona
The football legend was once commemorated with this bronze sculpture in Kolkata, Bharat. The 12-foot statue shows him preserving the 1986 International Cup.
Although this earned him a complaint for not looking much like Maradona, the footballer himself was simply content with having a statue there.
