Dwyane Wade's Miami Heat statue draws criticism from fans: 'Looks nothing like him'

An 8-foot statue meant to honor Dwyane Wade's legacy in the NBA is drawing criticism from fans who say the statue isn't a slam dunk.

Wade was accompanied on Sunday by his family, including wife Gabrielle Union-Wade, to the unveiling of the statue at the Kaseya Center in Miami, where Wade made history during his 13 seasons with the Miami Heat.

The bronze statue immortalizes the moment in 2009 when Wade declared, “This is my house” after scoring the game-winning shot in a double-overtime win against the Chicago Bulls at home.

The Miami Heat shared a video of the statue's unveiling on Instagram with the caption: “Our franchise's greatest legacy, cemented forever.”

The video shows Wade looking at and taking in the statue before his family members join him.

“I just thought, 'This is beautiful,'” Wade said of the statue during a press conference Sunday, according to the Miami Herald. “I'm biased, but I think it's one of the best statues ever created because it has meaning for us and for me.”

Fans were less likely to praise the statue on social media, where many criticized it, saying it looked nothing like the retired NBA star.

“So when is the unveiling of the actual WADE statue because that's not Wade…that's someone else in a Heat jersey,” one commenter wrote on Instagram.

“That doesn’t look like Dwayne at all [sic] Wade. “Heat, get your money back,” wrote another.

Commenters seemed to have the most criticism of the statue's depiction of Wade's face, with one person writing: “Brother fix the face PLEASE how do they get the other details right and screw up the face so badly?”

“FIX THE FACE ON THE STATUE @miamiheat,” another person commented on a separate Instagram post in which Wade and his family celebrate the designation of a local street that has been renamed Dwyane Wade Blvd.

The statue was made by Omri Amrany and Oscar León, sculptors from the Rotblatt Amrany Studio in Chicago.

Both Wade and the sculptors said the Heat star was instrumental in the statue's creation.

“It was a beautiful process to be a part of,” Wade said, according to the Miami Herald. “I think I visited Chicago about four times. I think I stayed there for about four hours. Every time it was just a great collaboration with the Miami Heat, the Fine Art Studio and also me and my family. So it was cool.”

León confirmed that Wade visited the design studio “several times.”

“It was the last visit with the last small changes that he could see first hand. After that, we really trust the process. The bronze brings out a level of depth and shine and this vibrancy that you can't achieve in clay,” León said. “The clay absorbs a lot of light, while this bronze has this beautiful quality that you just can't imagine what it's going to look like. But we trust the process.”

The Rotblatt Amrany Studio, which has also created statues of Kobe Bryant and Michael Jordan, posted a photo of Wade in the design studio on its website and wrote: “The studio was able to spend time with Wade over the past year to capture his likeness” in bronze .”

Wade said it was his decision to have his “This is my house” moment immortalized with the statue, describing it as the “greatest moment of my individual career.”

“I thought people would be driving and look up and I would say, 'That's my house,'” he said. “I thought, 'This is going to be pretty cool from the street.'”

“Good Morning America” reached out to Studio Rotblatt Amrany for comment but did not immediately receive a response.