Miami Heat to honor legend Dwyane Wade with statue
MIAMI - On the court, he was larger than life and helped lead the Miami Heat to three NBA Championships.
Now the team will honor the legacy of legend Dwyane Wade with a bronze statue.
"Dwyane's legacy is a towering one not only for the Miami HEAT but for Miami-Wade County. I can't think of a better way to honor him than by memorializing that legacy," said Heat President Pat Riley in a statement.
On Sunday, Riley announced that an eight-foot statue of the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame inductee will be unveiled outside the Kaseya Center in the fall.
The Heat commissioned sculptors Omri Amrany and Oscar León of Fine Art Studio Rotblatt Amrany to create the statue. Amrany's works of retired NBA stars include the iconic "Michael Jordan Spirit" in Chicago, as well as statues of Shaquille O'Neal, Dirk Nowitzki, and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.
"We are honored and excited to capture the essence of Dwyane Wade," said Amrany and León in a statement. "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!"
Wade played for the Heat for 15 of his 16 seasons. In addition to the NBA Championships, his accomplishments include being named an NBA All-Star MVP, making the All-Star selection 13 times, two All-NBA First Team selections, three All-NBA Second Team selections, and three All-NBA Third Team selections.
