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MIAMI — Dwyane Wade is now the first Miami Heat player with a statue outside the team’s arena.
The Heat unveiled the statue Sunday, about eight months after team president Pat Riley announced plans for the tribute. Wade is Miami’s all-time leading scorer, and he and Udonis Haslem are the only players to have been on all three Heat teams that won NBA championships.
“This is crazy,” Wade said moments after the unveiling. “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. … I wanted to feel this, man. I wanted to look at it.”
An in-game celebration will follow Monday when Miami plays host to Detroit on the 21st anniversary of Wade’s debut game with the franchise.
Wade, a member of the Basketball Hall of Fame, is one of six former Heat players to have their numbers retired by the team — along with Haslem, Chris Bosh, Tim Hardaway, Shaquille O’Neal and Alonzo Mourning.
“As the greatest player ever in Miami Heat history, yes, it’s his day, it’s his family’s day,” Riley said.
The statue is accompanied by a wall listing Wade’s career accomplishments and has been placed outside the front doors of the team’s arena. Wade is now a part-owner of the Utah Jazz in addition to having many other business interests.
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