Miami Heat Replace Face on Dwyane Wade Statue Two Years After Criticism of Its Likeness

The Miami Heat unveiled a redesigned head for their statue of Dwyane Wade outside the team's arena on Friday, two years after the original drew widespread criticism for looking little like the Hall of Famer. Wade said in an essay published Friday that he agreed to have a new head made. The Heat posted photos of the updated statue shortly before the essay appeared. Wade, who starred for the Heat for most of his career and was part of three NBA championship teams, wrote that he asked himself why the team would not try to improve the face if people did not feel a connection to it. He said everyone involved agreed to adjust the head and that the move was not meant to erase the artists' work. Work was finished in the last few days, with a plywood box placed over the statue to hide it from the public. The statue was unveiled in October 2024 outside Kaseya Center and depicts Wade's March 2009 celebration, when he jumped onto the scorer's table after a game-winning shot against the Chicago Bulls. Sculptors Omri Amrany and Oscar Leon told The Athletic that seeing the piece in its permanent location revealed ways to improve the likeness.

The right-leaning Daily Mail leads with the mockery, calling the statue notoriously bad and infamous, and says it "finally" got an upgrade after years of ridicule. It uses the same Wade essay quotes and details of the plywood box as CBS News, and adds captions noting fans were shocked at the unveiling and that Wade was the first Heat player with a statue outside the arena. The left-leaning CBS News uses much of the same text but frames the story with a milder headline, calling the statue controversial and getting a new face after criticism, and gives more space to Wade's reflections on listening and not disrespecting the artists. The two sides agree on the core facts and quotes; the difference lies mainly in tone. Newsweek, in the alternative group, adds detail the others lack in the portion provided: specific changes to the eyes, nose and mouth, and the sculptors' statement.