It was a celebratory night for the Miami Heat Sunday as not only did they get a victory against the Charlotte Hornets, but they also commemorated Dwyane Wade who was inducted into the Naismith Hall of Fame last year. At halftime, Pat Riley would surprise Wade with the announcement that they would build an eight-foot statue of him outside the Kaseya Center.
Looking back, every great moment involving Wade inside the arena the Heat play in, he is known for saying “This is my hosue!,” but now, he has more reason to say so. When speaking during his media availability at halftime, he compared the feeling to Michael Jordan getting a statue for his legendary 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 said. “It's not something I dreamed up. But it's something I definitely grew up knowing about. You know, Michael Jordan had a statue in Chicago. And that was the first statue I've ever seen. And so to be able to, to be at this point in my life, where I know that the same feeling I had, when Jordan had his statue.”
The same people who made Jordan's statue is doing Wade's for the Heat
Accordingly, it makes sense for Wade to compare it to Jordan as he is from Chicago, Illinois and grew up watching him with the Bulls. Funny enough, the same people who did the statue for Jordan will be doing Wade's as well as it will be Omri Amrany and Oscar León of Fine Art Studio Rotblatt Amrany said in a statement according to Ira Winderman of The Sun Sentinel.
“We are honored and excited to capture the essence of Dwyane Wade,” the statement said. “It is a privilege for both the athlete to be immortalized and for us, as artists, to create a statue that celebrates a lifetime of excellence. We dreamed about this for many years and now, it’s a reality!”
Erik Spoelstra reacting to the news of Wade getting the statue
The reactions from Heat players and coaches ranged from emotional to excitement which goes to show the amount of people Wade impact in his time with the organization. Consequently, the same goes for Miami head coach Erik Spoelstra who said to ClutchPoints after the win to the Hornets that he got goosebumps when the announcement was made.
“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.”
Asked Miami Heat HC Erik Spoelstra about Dwyane Wade (@DwyaneWade) getting a statue and his telling of his and everybody’s reaction lit up the room.
“Pat kept that in his pocket…Pat is the Godfather for a million reasons…” #HEATCulture pic.twitter.com/oSrG5BCgOa
— Zachary Weinberger (@ZachWeinberger) January 15, 2024
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