It was a great night for the Miami Heat in more ways than one. First, they beat the Charlotte Hornets in dominating fashion, 104-87, keeping them to the lowest amount of points they have allowed this season. The other was that the organization was celebrating the Hall of Fame induction of Heat legend Dwyane Wade which led to the announcement that he is getting an eight-foot tall statue outside the Kaseya Center.

Miami head coach Erik Spoelstra and star Bam Adebayo spoke after the game to talk about the legacy of Wade and the statue news revealed by none other than Pat Riley himself. Spoelstra would walk ClutchPoints through his and the team's reactions to the announcement.

“Pat [Riley] kept that in his pocket. Pat is the godfather for many reasons. I was standing right next to Caron [Butler]. He had the same reaction as me. Just goosebumps and I was like ‘whoa, I definitely wasn't expecting that.' You know, he comes out with the bobblehead, didn't know where he was going with that. He dropped the mic on that one,” Spoelstra said. “He shocked all of us, he shocked Dwayne [Wade]. I love seeing Dwayne have that really sincere, genuine reaction to it, where he was speechless. It was just really cool. That's why Dwayne is Dwyane, that's why Pat is Pat. That's the way it should be. That this is just one night and then yet the statue will be there next year. That's going to be really cool.”

Spoelstra talks about the “amazing night” for the Heat

Miami Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra and former player Dwyane Wade in front of the Kaseya Center.

There is no doubt that Spoelstra and Wade two have had immense success together as the duo led the Heat to four straight NBA Finals, winning two championships. He had no hesitation in saying that Wade is the “greatest Miami Heat player.”

“It was just an amazing night. Obviously we get to honor and celebrate our greatest Miami Heat player, I love it when he said in attendance. I wish he could be here a whole lot more, I tell him that every time I see him, and I think it's important for all the guys in the locker room to see that,” Spoelstra said. “I mentioned it often to our guys that they inherit the legacy of this organization. Not everybody when they come into this building necessarily feels that way. But we feel a certain way about the culture here and what's been done in the past and we want to uphold that standard and I just want our guys to see what greatness is and why greatness is celebrated.”

Adebayo said that Wade should've had a statue sooner

Adebayo was one of the few active players on the Heat along Josh Richardson and Duncan Robinson that had Wade as a teammate and were there for his retirement year in the 2018-2019 season. Since then, the two have formed a close bond and said to the media after the win that he feels like he should've got a statue sooner.

“I knew, I couldn't tell him. But that's the utmost respect for somebody that's done what they did for this franchise. Feel like he should have done sooner, but that's just my take,” Adebayo said. “But can't wait to see a statue in the front. Now, I'm gonna do some some kid joke in front of it and I can't wait til we see it.”

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The star big-man had another all-around exceptional game as he led the team in the major three categories with 24 points, 10 rebounds, and seven assists. When asked what his reaction was when he initially heard that Wade was getting a statue, he thought about himself having one in the future.

“I want one! Who wouldn't? But it just shows the effect he's had on not only the organization but the community as a whole,” Adebayo said. “They call it Wade County for a reason. And he will be stamped in the city forever. And he'll be one of those people who always talked about as one of the top three shooting guards of all time.”

With the win against the Hornets, there will be no time to rest as the Heat are getting on a plane tonight to travel to New York as they face the Brooklyn Nets on the tail-end of a back to back Monday night. Miami is now 23-16 and entering in Sunday's game, they were seventh in the Eastern Conference.