Dwyane Wade receives GOAT shoutout from Michael Jordan's son Jeffery and 3x NBA All-Star
The Miami Heat honored Dwyane Wade with the first-ever statue outside the Kaseya Center. Just over half a month after Wade got his statue, he made a post on his social media with a life message for his fans and everyone else.
Posting a series of pictures of his statue, the 13-time NBA All-Star penned a long and inspiring message. Wade wrote that basketball was the "love language" of his soul, which gave him an "identity." He also wrote that basketball was his sanctuary from the hardships of his life.
"By 17, basketball was my soul’s love language," Wade wrote. "It helped give me an identity. It was the safe space that allows me to be expressive and passionate. I realized that basketball was my blank canvas. I used it to re-imagine my life. No matter what was going on in my life, it was my sanctuary — my way out. I needed to re-imagine life. Not just for myself, but for everyone I loved! I PUT ON FOR MY FAMILY 🤎🫡 DREAM. BELIEVE. WORK.
Comments poured in from the NBA community, giving Wade his flowers. One of the big names from the NBA who commented on the post was three-time All-Star Trae Young. The Atlanta Hawks star commented with a goat emoji.
Michael Jordan's eldest son, Jeffery Jordan, also reacted with a goat emoji in the comment section.
New Orleans Pelicans star CJ McCollum also commented on the post.
"This so dope brotha 🔥," wrote McCollum.
Dwyane Wade played 15 seasons with the Miami Heat. He won three titles with the Heat and established himself as one of the greatest players in NBA history.
Fans troll Dwyane Wade's statue, slam Miami Heat for disrespecting the NBA legend
Getting a statute is one of the greatest honors that any player can receive in sports. Dwyane Wade well deserved his statue with the Miami Heat, but it seems that some fans don't think the franchise did a very good job in getting a proper statue sculpted for their hero.
On Oct. 27, the Heat team, in the presence of Pat Riley and their players, unveiled the statue of the former NBA player outside the Kaseya Center. However, it didn't take much time before the backlash erupted from the NBA fans on social media as they slammed the artist and the Heat for not getting the statue right.
Reacting to the statue, some fans wrote that it looked nothing like Dwyane Wade and the Heat should have checked before unveiling.
"How can they unveil that statue? Looks nothing like him," a fan wrote.
"Don’t they check these things before the ceremony, damn," another fan wrote.
One of the fans hilariously wrote that the statue looked like an Egyptian 'mummy.'
"Bruh that’s not D Wade that’s the mummy," the fan wrote.
Another fan commented that the Heat should be ashamed for doing this and it was disrespectful to Wade.
"D Wade be like, 'I got dressed up for this?' Shame @MiamiHEAT Shame," the fan wrote.
"This is borderline disrespectful," a fan wrote.
One of the fans was so disappointed with teams getting statues wrong that he said that franchises should stop putting statues because they were not getting them right.
"They just need to stop with these statues if they aren't turning out well," this fan wrote.
While one fan said that the sculpture seemed like someone was procrastinating, another hilariously wrote that the statue looked like Hollywood actor Samuel Jackson.
"When you procrastinated on the assignment too long and just needed to submit something," the fan wrote.
"That looks like Samuel L. Jackson portraying Dwyane Wade in a movie," the fan wrote.
Dwyane Wade became the first player in the Heat franchise history to have his statue. Whether it's up to the mark or not is another question.