When one thinks of the Miami Heat, Dwayne Wade is one of the first names that comes to mind. Responsible for leading the Heat franchise to its three championships, Wade will forever be immortalized in the hearts and minds of the Miami fandom.

Now, the Heat have just announced that the Hall of Famer will be having his own statue built outside the Kaseya Center.  The said announcement was made by none other than team president Pat Riley, in front of a cheering home crowd during Miami's Sunday night game.

Wade himself was emotional, visibly wiping away tears as chants of “MVP!” rained down from all around the arena.

“I'm not really the person who gets lost for words,” Wade said. “I got too many words actually. I didn't dream of this though. I'm just so grateful…I'm very grateful.” (via Rob Perez)

 

Dwayne Wade's success with the Heat

While he may have had short stints with other teams, Wade played most of his career with Miami, averaging 22.7 points, 5.6 assists and 4.7 rebounds in 948 games for the Heat.

Interestingly, the 41-year-old's status as a Miami Heat legend may already have been cemented back in 2006, when he won the franchise's first-ever title. Back then, Wade was just 24 years of age when he spearheaded the championship run which culminated in a six-game series victory over the Dallas Mavericks.

Bringing in two more chips alongside LeBron James and Chris Bosh in 2012 and 2013, the 13-time All-Star has proved that his name merits more than a jersey retirement — and that's exactly why Sunday's emotional event transpired.