Inside The Heat

Paul Pierce Throws Shade On Dwyane Wade Statue

Paul Pierce takes to social media to voice his opinion on new Dwyane Wade statue.

Scott Salomon

Aug 6, 2024; Paris, France; Dwyane Wade looks on at halftime between France and Canada in a men’s basketball quarterfinal game during the Paris 2024 Olympic Summer Games at Accor Arena.
Aug 6, 2024; Paris, France; Dwyane Wade looks on at halftime between France and Canada in a men’s basketball quarterfinal game during the Paris 2024 Olympic Summer Games at Accor Arena. / Kyle Terada-Imagn Images
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Add Hall of Famer Paul Pierce to the list of people who do not believe the new Dwyane Wade statue resembles the Miami Heat legend.

When the statue was revealed on Sunday night, there were dozens of jokes on social media. He was compared to many other people from actor Laurence Fishburne to singer Seal.

"Na D Wade need a redo he to{o] legendary fa this," Pierce wrote on social media.

Pierce was trading text messages with former teammate Tony Allen. Pierce sent Allen a picture of the statue. He wanted to know if it was Allen in a Heat uniform.

"Is this u?" Pierce wrote to Allen.

The overwhelming verdict was the statue looks nothing like Wade.

Wade was involved in the process of designing and giving input on the statue's creation from the onset.

The statue was designed and sculpted by the same artists who produced the Kobe Bryant statue at Star Plaza, the Michael Jordan statue in front of the United Center. They also designed the recently released memorial of Kobe and Gianna Bryant which rests outside of the Crypto.com arena.

"This is crazy," Wade said in his speech. "I wanted to feel this. Life goes by so fast and it’s very rare that we get to feel things because we’re always off to the next thing.

"So I didn’t prepare much because I wanted to feel this, man. I wanted to look at it,” Wade said as he turned to admire the statue.

Miami’s celebration of Wade continues on Monday night when the Heat host the Detroit Pistons.

Scott Salomon is a contributor to Miami Heat On SI. He can be reached at sas@southfloridamedianetwork.com.

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Scott Salomon
SCOTT SALOMON

Scott Salomon joined FanNation on Sports Illustrated in April 2024 covering breaking news and analysis for the Miami Dolphins channel. In June he joined Inside the Heat and Back in the Day NBA. Scott is based in South Florida and has been covering the local and national sports scene for 35 years. Scott has covered and has been credentialed for the Super Bowl, the NFL Combine, various Orange Bowls and college football championship games. Scott was also credentialed for the NBA All-Star game and covered the Miami Heat during their first six seasons for USA TODAY. Scott is a graduate of the University of Miami School of Communication and the St. Thomas University School of Law. Scott has two sons and his hobbies include watching sports on television and binge watching shows on various streaming services. Twitter: @ScottSalomonNFL