After making the announcement in January , the Miami Heat have officially honored Hall of Fame guard Dwyane Wade with a statue, cementing his status as the greatest player in franchise history.
Drafted fifth overall in 2003, Wade played for the Heat for 15 seasons. In that time, he won three championships and earned 13 All-Star selections. Though the Big 3 era is what sticks out in the minds of many fans, Dade County became Wade County after he led Miami to a title in 2006.
Heat Honor Hall Of Famer, Champion Dwyane Wade With Statue
In 2009, Wade hit a one-handed running jump shot against the Chicago Bulls to win the game for the Heat in double-overtime. After making the shot, Wade jumped on the scorer’s table, yelling “This is my house!”
When the statue was unveiled, multiple people — Wade, his son Zaire, longtime teammate Udonis Haslem , Heat president Pat Riley — made speeches. In his speech, Wade sought to define legacy in the context of Heat Culture, using words inspired by Riley:
He walked off to MVP chants.
Soon after, he took to the podium to speak to reporters, answering myriad questions.
Wade admits to being intimately involved with the design process. Notably, he’s the one who chose the “This is my house!” moment to be the statue’s pose. A stickler for details, he notes that observers can even see him chewing gum in the bust.
Interestingly, he reveals that his reaction was inspired by beating his hometown team and seeing other players jump on the scorer’s table.
The Unchosen One
“Personally biased, I think it’s one of the best statues that’s been created because of what it represents for us and for me,” Wade says. “But I have so many emotions…”
“It’s hard to say you want it any other way when you just celebrated a statue,” he continues. “You’ll be asking for too much… These last 21 years of my life have been incredible. The highs and the lows.”
“Just sitting up there on that podium… I’m like, ‘How?’ Like in my mind, I’m like ‘What? Me?’”
“I was never chosen,” he recalls. “I didn’t even get chosen on the playground when I was growing up.”
