The Miami Heat have replaced the head on the Dwyane Wade statue outside the arena, two years after the original was unveiled to widespread criticism that it did not look like the former star.
Wade said Friday that he agreed to the change. In an essay published the same day, he said he asked himself whether fans would feel a connection when they looked at the face, and that the team and the people involved had talked openly and agreed to adjust the head.
The sculpture work was finished in the past few days. A plywood box covered the statue while crews worked so the public could not watch. The Heat posted photos of the updated statue Friday.
Wade said the body pose still captures his famous shot against the Chicago Bulls in March 2009, when he hit a game-winner at the buzzer in double overtime and hopped onto a courtside table as fans chanted “This is my house.” He said the new face is meant to match the energy of that night and the fans who were part of it.
Wade, who spent most of his Hall of Fame career with Miami and won three NBA titles with the team, wrote that the goal was a better likeness and a moment fans can see themselves in.
