Heat unveil updated Dwyane Wade statue after original version was panned

Dwyane Wade has a new face — on his statue.

Mindful of criticism that started coming in waves immediately after the statue outside the arena where the Miami Heat play was unveiled in his honor two years ago, Wade revealed Friday that he consented to having a new head made for the piece.

The original statue was widely panned because the face bore almost no resemblance to Wade, who spent the majority of his Basketball Hall of Fame career starring for the Heat and was a major part of Miami’s three NBA championship teams.

“I had to ask myself a pretty simple question: ‘If people don’t feel that connection when they look at the face, why wouldn’t we try to make it better?’” Wade wrote in an essay published on Friday. “So, we listened and had honest conversations with everyone involved, and we all agreed to make adjustments to the head.”

The work on the sculpture was completed in the last few days, with a plywood box placed over it to keep the public from seeing what was happening. The Heat posted photos of the new, improved statue on Friday, not long before Wade’s essay went public.

“This isn’t about erasing the work that was already done or disrespecting the artists who put their time and talent into creating it. It’s about being willing to listen,” Wade wrote. “It’s about recognizing when something carries meaning for more people than just yourself and being open enough to revisit it.”

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The original version of the statue was, in Wade’s words, an “artistic version of a moment that happened.” That moment was the end of a game against the Chicago Bulls in March 2009, when he made a shot to win as time was expiring in double overtime, hopped up onto a courtside table as Heat fans roared and yelled, “This is my house.” The way his body is depicted in the statue seems to be reminiscent of that moment. The face, not so much.

“The 305 deserves to look at that statue and feel the same energy it felt that night,” Wade wrote, referring to Miami by its primary area code. “And the fans deserve to see themselves in that moment because their noise, their belief and their love were part of what made it possible.

“So we listened. We went back to work. And we made the adjustments. I hope when people see it now, they see a better likeness of me. But more than that, I hope they see themselves. Because it may be my likeness, but it will always be our house.”