THE INTERNET WON: Heat Give Dwyane Wade's Statue a New Face

The Miami Heat unveiled a new face on Dwyane Wade's statue on Friday, October 30, two years after the original became one of the most memed sculptures in sports.

The original statue, unveiled on October 27, 2024, outside the Kaseya Center, was quickly mocked online, with many fans saying it looked more like actor Laurence Fishburne than Wade. The work to replace the head was done over the last few days behind a plywood box so nobody saw it until it was finished.

Only the head changed. The rest of the 8-foot bronze statue still captures March 9, 2009, the night Wade scored 48 points and hit a buzzer-beating three-pointer to beat the Chicago Bulls 130-127 in double overtime, before jumping onto a courtside table to declare whose house it was.

Wade, who initially defended the original, addressed the change in an essay titled “This is My House.” He wrote: “If people don't feel that connection when they look at the face, why wouldn't we try to make it better?”

The sculptors, Omri Amrany and Oscar Leon of Rotblatt Amrany Studio, said seeing the piece at full scale in its permanent spot showed them where the portrait could be stronger. Wade made a point of not blaming the artists, writing that the Heat “listened and had honest conversations with everyone involved” before agreeing to redo the head. Wade was the first Heat player to receive a statue. He is the franchise's all-time leading scorer, won three championships in Miami, made 13 All-Star teams, had his No. 3 jersey retired in 2020, and was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2023.