Miami Heat honor Dwyane Wade with statue

Author: Zach Oliveri Writer: Zach Oliveri
Published: Updated:

Miami Heat fans always remember the moment in 2009 when Dwyane Wade stood on the scorers table, after making the game-winning steal and bucket against the Chicago Bulls, and declared “This is my house.”

That moment is immortalized with a statue of the Heat legend outside the Kaseya Center in Miami. On Monday night, fans from all over came to see it and celebrate Wade’s legacy.

They were greeted with the eight foot tall statue of the Hall of Famer, which was unveiled on Sunday. For Mateo Alcini from Fort Myers, he was in the right place at the right time.

“I actually just got back from a vacation trip to the Bahamas but when I was at dinner yesterday, I saw that they built the Dwyane Wade statue,” Alcini explained. “And of course as a basketball fan, I got to come see it.”

Alcini got his picture of the statue Monday morning. Once he found out his hometown Detroit Pistons are in town to play Miami, Alcini said, “I let my mom know and she’s like you want to go to the game. So I was like yep.”

Not a bad game to go to as the Heat celebrate the statue’s dedication and the impact Wade made on the franchise.

“My youngest son, Dwyane is his favorite player and he’s four years old,” Heat head coach Erik Spoelestra said. “And he’s always asking is Dwyane going to play tonight. And I’m like no.” The room started to laugh.

The statue has been the talk of social media since the unveiling with many saying it doesn’t look like Wade. But the three-time champion doesn’t mind the chatter.

“We wanted to capture a moment that represented the organization, represented myself and represented this city,” Wade explained. “Felt like we captured that moment in an artistic form. In an artistic way. If I wanted it to look like me, I’ll stand in front of the arena and you take pictures. It don’t need to look like me.”

The Heat beat the Pistons 106-98 Monday night. You can listen to the Miami Heat games all season long on our sister station, Southwest Florida’s FOX Sports Radio.

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