As the Miami Heat prepare for their upcoming game vs the New York Knicks on Wednesday evening, the NBA world is busy roasting the statue they just unveiled of franchise legend Dwyane Wade at a recent ceremony honoring the superstar. The statue is not exactly the spitting image of the Heat icon, and its unveiling has drawn a host of reactions, including getting its own segment on Inside The NBA's “Shaqtin A Fool” on Tuesday evening's postgame show.
In fact, news of the statue's cringeworthiness has made its way into the presidential race, as presidential candidate Kamala Harris' running mate Tim Walz recently revealed during an interview on the Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz.
“How gracious was D-Wade though, about this, to the sculptor?” Walz said, per Peter Dewey of Heat Nation. “Because this is pretty horrific.”
Walz also spoke on how Wade handled the situation with class.
“It’s horrific, but D-Wade, what a class act,” Walz said. “He’s like, ‘No, this is really nice. I’m grateful.’ Yeah, I don’t know how they get that wrong.”
In an era where technology would seemingly make it easier than ever to craft a statue worthy of a franchise icon like Wade, the Heat's sculpting department evidently dropped the ball on this one.
Can the Heat do big things in 2024-25?
Meanwhile, on the court, the Heat have won two straight games after an opening night demolition at the hands of the Orlando Magic. While victories over the Charlotte Hornets and Detroit Pistons may not be the barometer of success in today's NBA, it was still nice to see Jimmy Butler put his opening night struggles behind him over the next two games.
Miami currently figures to be in the thick of things in the Eastern Conference playoff picture, which has gotten a lot more competitive considering the plethora of moves that were made by various of their counterparts this offseason.
The Heat are hoping that Jimmy Butler's impending free agency and potential for one more long term contract will motivate him to take the regular season a bit more seriously this year, as well as counting on continued development from young players Jaime Jaquez Jr. and Nikola Jovic. If those things fall into place, there's no reason why the Heat couldn't be near the top of the standings come April.
In any case, the Heat and Knicks are slated to tip things off at 7:30 PM ET.