Dwyane Wade fires back at critics of his statue

Dwyane Wade was hands-on in the erection of his statue, which became the butt of jokes after it was unveiled Sunday night. The Heat legend even shared photos of him visiting the sculptors and giving his input on the depiction of his "this is my house" moment from March 9, 2009.

In other words, those who mocked the sculptors, or even the Heat organization, were also poking fun at Wade for approving a statue that many felt did not depict him accurately. 

Wade has fired back at those critics, explaining that the statue wasn't meant to be an accurate depiction of his face, but rather an "artistic version" akin to a caricature.

"The social media world is about opinions. Everyone has an opinion," Wade told reporters. "Talk more about a statue, come on down to see it, take some photos, send some memes. We don't care...If I wanted it to look like me, I'd just stand outside the arena and y'all can take photos. It don't need to look like me. It's the artistic version of a moment that happened that we're trying to cement."

Meanwhile, sculptor Omri Amrany, who co-created the controversial Wade statue, said he expected a negative reaction from social media. 

“I want to be an artist that creates an in-your-face response and you cannot expect all of human society will have a positive reaction,” Amrany told Front Office Sports. “Some people will come with a goofy response or angry response. That’s not because of what the art is itself, but rather how it makes them feel. So, if this is my part of being a psychologist, fine.”

The sculptor confirmed that Wade routinely visited himself and Oscar Leon, the co-creator, during the statue creation process and "knew exactly what he wanted" and "was very happy with the piece."

Amrany — whose company erected the statues of Michael Jordan, Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O'Neal — revealed that Wade's viral "Who is this guy" reaction to the statue was meant to be tongue-in-cheek.

"Some people took it like he didn’t recognize his own sculpture, which is completely the opposite. It was just an expression," added Amrany.