Monday proved quite positive for the Miami Heat (2-1), who further celebrated the best player in franchise history and moved to over .500 thanks to their 106-98 win over the visiting Detroit Pistons (0-4).
Before recapping the latter in full, though, we’ll pause for the bronze elephant in the room: Hall of Famer Dwyane Wade’s newly unveiled statue. The 2006 NBA Finals MVP, who was showered with MVP chants during a halftime ceremony celebrating his statue and the Miami street intersection dedicated in his name, became only the 15th player in NBA history to have a statue outside of an NBA arena. He joins the likes of Michael Jordan (Chicago Bulls), Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (Los Angeles Lakers), Kobe Bryant (Lakers), Magic Johnson (Lakers), Shaquille O’Neal (Lakers), Wilt Chamberlain (Philadelphia 76ers), Dominique Wilkins (Atlanta Hawks) and Dirk Nowitzki (Dallas Mavericks).
Around the team
Wade is aware of the jokes but isn’t the least bit interested in dimming his light. A day after the Heat legend was honored with his statue in front of Kaseya Center, the three-time NBA champion remained in the moment and reflected on his gratitude for the bigger picture. Not all publicity is good publicity, but it’s hard to credibly hate on someone being celebrated with a statue because … well, those are very rare?
“I don’t know a lot of people with a statue,” he said before Monday’s game. “Do you? Anybody here? Y’all know anything about the process of a statue? It’s an unbelievable process to be a part of. It’s a complicated process. When I was sitting down with the Miami Heat, what we wanted to do was capture a moment that represented the organization, represented myself and represented the city. I feel like we captured that moment in an artistic form — in an artistic way. If I wanted it to look like me, I’d just stand outside the arena, and y’all would take photos.”
And, to be fair to Wade, he was plenty fine taking social media’s comments in stride because it’s hard to pass up a good laugh. Beyond the unveiling itself, the 42-year-old remained grateful for how his basketball career continues being etched into immortality. Jokes are timely, but statues are literally forever (unless one somehow melts, of course).
“I appreciate all the comments that everyone has because I’m in on the joke, guys,” Wade said. “Like, I laugh all the time. I’m cool. I saw some memes today that I was like, “Okay, I got a little Laurence Fishburne lil’ jawline.” I mean, my jawline is covered with this beard — y’all can’t see it. I ain’t have a beard at the time, so y’all could see my jawline a little more.”
Tbh that Dwyane Wade statue looks more like Laurence Fishburne pic.twitter.com/CHOH4F1ktQ
— Joel Rush (@JoelRushNBA) October 27, 2024
While Wade balanced perspective with laughter, he also wanted to convey his gratitude for the work done by sculptors Omri Amrany and Oscar León of Rotblatt Amrany Studio. Amrany is also credited for sculpting statues for Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant.
“The family at Fine Arts Studios did an amazing job,” Wade said. “And I hate that for them because they are in a different world, you know, when it comes to the work that they’re doing and what they create. And every time they create something, somebody has to come out and say something about their creation, that cannot do what they do. And so, I know what they feel like because people talked about me a lot, but they couldn’t do what I do. So, you know, you learn how to just laugh, look at it, learn from it and move on. So, we good.”
On Sunday, many fans took an opportunity to point out how off-base Dwyane Wade’s new statue was.
But for sculptor Omri Amrany, who co-created the Wade statue, the critiques don’t bite.https://t.co/U4pOaWmWQA pic.twitter.com/VL27LVIaKA
— Front Office Sports (@FOS) October 28, 2024
Game result: Heat 106, Pistons 98
- Heat top performers: Jimmy Butler (team-high 23 points, four rebounds, seven assists, four steals, zero turnovers), Terry Rozier (20 points, 5-12 3-pt FG, five rebounds, three assists, one steal), Bam Adebayo (12 points, 10 rebounds, four assists, three steals, three blocks)
- Pistons top performers: Cade Cunningham (game-high 24 points, eight rebounds, six assists, two steals), Jaden Ivey (18 points, 5-9 3-pt FG, four rebounds, one assist, two steals), Tim Hardaway Jr. (20 points, 3-6 3-pt FG, one assist; averaged 10.7 points in first three games)
- Key in-game stretch: Could an entire quarter qualify as a stretch? Let’s note Monday’s final frame as Miami’s key to victory. During the fourth quarter, Miami committed one turnover while forcing Cunningham into three turnovers and 2-of-8 shooting. On offense, seven Heat players scored in the fourth quarter as the Pistons shot only 27.3 percent (6 of 22) to close out the game.
What the Heat are saying
- Jimmy Butler (on team finding balance on offense): “I’m not going to get away from my game because of the way that people would like for our organization to play. I’ve got be on the attack. I gotta find my guys, gotta guard on the defensive side on the ball, and it’ll look how it looked tonight.”
- Jimmy Butler (about team being aggressive for steals): “I love it. Gamble .. you just got to get, like, four of six. You can f— up two. Spo (coach Erik Spoelstra) will probably get mad, but if you get four out of six, he can’t be too mad. I want all the gambling in the world. That’s what I do. I want everybody else to follow suit.”
- Terry Rozier (on thriving alongside Tyler Herro): “It’s just a lot of fun. We say it all the time — you just pick your poison. We’re two unselfish guys who look for our shot, look for our teammate’s shot. Along with our anchors, Bam [Adebayo] and Jimmy, we’re just trying to put it all together. And, once we do that, it’s gonna be tough.”
- Tyler Herro (about why Miami sealed the win): “Just getting stops. I think the most important thing right now is trying to find an identity at this point of the season — it’s really early. We can hang our hats on the defensive end, whether shots are falling or not. I still thought it was an efficient night as far as the shot diet and the profile that we want. It’s [about] continuing to get more 3s and layups, and shots will fall.”
Next Heat game: Tuesday vs. New York Knicks, 7:30 p.m. ET
( Top photo: Carmen Mandato / Getty Images )
