The Miami Heat unveiled a statue of franchise legend Dwyane Wade outside Kaseya Center on Sunday.
The statue has been in the works for a while and was a way to honor Wade, who won three NBA titles with the Heat and is the franchise’s all-time leading scorer. The statue is accompanied by a wall listing his career accomplishments.
Wade was thrilled to see the statue in person, but many were quick to note that the face didn’t seem particularly accurate. Even Wade himself seemed to have a little fun with it.
“That’s crazy. I can’t believe that. Who is that guy?” he said.
Wade, who is officially the first Heat player with a statue outside the team’s arena, seemed to take it in stride. But there were plenty of folks on Twitter who had stronger reactions to the appearance of Wade’s face in the statue.
A statue is a huge honor and Wade deserves to be celebrated for everything he accomplished in Miami, but this didn’t do him justice. However, Wade hasn’t been the only one with less-than-flattering statues in recent years.
Here is a look at the five worst sports statues in recent history:
1. Cristiano Ronaldo
This statue, unveiled at Madeira Airport in March 2017, received a lot of criticism for being unflattering toward soccer superstar Cristiano Ronaldo. The sculptor behind it, Emanuel Santos, tried to redeem himself with another statue a year later and that one seems to have gotten better reviews.
2. Walter Johnson
This statue was supposed to represent one of the best pitchers in MLB history, Walter Johnson, while in motion, but the delivery didn’t quite turn out as expected.
As published by the Washington Times, his grandson called the statue “hideous,” “ridiculous,” “not even close,” and “awkward.”
3. Dwyane Wade
The face on the statue definitely shows a lot of emotion, but a lot of the comments regarding this one have been about how Wade looks significantly older and different in this sculpture.
4. Harry Caray
This one was dedicated to Harry Caray, one of the most well-known announcers in baseball history — and the one who coined the term “Holy Cow!” Having a statue outside of Wrigley Field is quite an honor, but unfortunately the bottom of the statue gives a creepy ghost vibe.
5. Diego Maradona
The soccer legend was honored with this bronze sculpture in Kolkata, India. The 12-foot statue shows him holding the 1986 World Cup.
While this received criticism for not looking quite like Maradona, the footballer himself was just happy to have a statue there.
