A statue of NBA star Dwyane Wade has been criticized by some social media users for being 'completely unrecognizable'.
Yesterday (October 27), a statue of National Basketball Association (NBA) Miami Heat legend Dwyane Wade was unveiled at the Kaseya Center in Miami, Florida.
A video shows the moment the 8ft bronze statue of the basketball player was unveiled, two of the walls concealing it from public view pulled back, smoke billowing and cheers erupting from the surrounding crowds, oh and if that wasn't enough - a few plumes of fire blaze up behind for good measure.
As the smoke clears, it gives way to the statue of a figure wearing a Miami Heat vest with the number three on it, the figure's arms raised in the air and fingers pointing down, the statue's mouth open in a shout - reportedly paying tribute to a moment during Wade's sixth NBA season when he scored one of the most memorable shots of his career on March 9, 2009.
The plinth the statue is stood on reads: "This is my house!" - which were the words Wade yelled after making the shot in 2009.
Alas, had it not been for the news coverage surrounding the statue's unveiling - and Wade being present for the unveiling himself - some social media users voiced they may've struggled to identify who it's actually of.
Dwayne Wade was number three of the Miami Heat (Lisa Blumenfeld/Getty Images)
One Twitter user said: "Trying to replicate an emotional expression like that is a great idea but should’ve stayed an idea."
"Dwyane Wade’s Heat career -15 seasons -3 championships -All-time leader in points, games, assists, and steals -1 completely unrecognizable statue," Barstool Sports commented.
A third commented: "I loved the @Avengers! This Thanos statue is."
"Who approved this?????" a fourth wrote, while a fifth said: "Why are statues so hard!? We’ve only been doing it since the beginning of EVERYTHING!"
A sixth wrote: "Congrats to Dwade but who is the sculptor?"
And the sculptors behind the piece have since opened up about creating the commemorative artwork.
The statue of Wade (CBS Miami)
Sculptors Oscar León and Omri Amrany are the artistic minds and hands behind the sculpture and León told WSVN that the pair were 'trying to one-up what we’ve done in the past in terms of design, execution, composition'.
The sculpture is made up of around '700 to 800 pounds worth of clay' and one of the biggest challenges was making it seem like Wade was 'up in the air somehow'.
And Wade was actually quite 'heavily involved' in the process too, he says, with the NBA star advising on the statue and making small tweaks and changes.
"I’m very vain, and so, if my eyebrow was off a little bit, I was letting them know," he said.
Despite some changes here and there, León added Wade 'walked away very happy' with the outcome of the statue.
"By that last visit, he had basically seen everything he wanted to see. We made all the adjustments he wanted," the artist said.
In a news conference on Sunday, Wade also said, as quoted by the Miami Herald: "I’m biased, but I think it’s one of the best statues that’s been created because of what it represents for us and for me."
So I guess if Wade's happy then that's really all that should matter eh?
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