MIAMI – With the Miami Heat's slow start to the season getting a little boost after the 129-117 win over the Atlanta Hawks, marking the first victory of the season after a 0-4 start, a story off the court has caught the eye of many. As Heat icon Dwyane Wade got his statue revamped, head coach Erik Spoelstra would reveal his thoughts on the matter.
There's no denying that for the last two years since Wade's statue outside the Kaseya Center was unveiled, there were a lot of people within the sports world poking fun at the face, critiquing the likeness of the former superstar. Revealed on Friday, the team decided to update the face, which has been praised for being more accurate to Wade.
The update to Wade's face on the statue was kept under wraps, even to Spoelstra, saying that “everybody knows how to keep a secret in this building. Aside from the secret, Spoelstra would sat how it looks “amazing,” as it captures his “competitive spirit” that led to Wade becoming a three-time champion and what many consider the franchise's greatest player.
“Everybody knows how to keep a secret in this building. This stuff is like on a need-to-know basis,” Spoelstra said before Friday's game against the Indiana Pacers. “I really just found out about it this afternoon. I was in the weight room, and everybody's talking about it; I was like, “Wait, what? This happened?” I think it looks amazing. I think the most important person, you know, to want to connect with it is Dwayne and his family, and he does. He feels great about it. So we all feel great about it. Heat Nation feels great about it, and I think it is a very cool representation of him and his competitive spirit.”
Erik Spoelstra on the revamped Dwyane Wade statue: #Heat
“Man, everybody knows how to keep a secret in this building. This stuff is like on a need-to-know basis. I really just found out about it this afternoon…
…I think it looks amazing. I think the most important person you… pic.twitter.com/HybiLNrw05
— Zachary Weinberger (@ZachWeinberger) October 30, 2026
Dwyane Wade explains the change to Heat statue
Along with the Heat releasing the updated statue, it came with a Substack article that was written by Wade about the change and the reaction from the original head sculpt two years ago. It was a no-brainer decision for the first statue outside Kaseya Center to be Wade and all the success he had with Miami, as the moment chosen ended up being the iconic “This is my house” celebration in March of 2009.
Wade admitted that he “heard the jokes” and everything that came from the statue reveal, emphasizing that the intention was not “erasing the work that was already done or disrespecting the artists,” but “about being willing to listen.”
Article Continues Below“So eventually, I had to ask myself a pretty simple question: If people don’t feel that connection when they look at the face, why wouldn’t we try to make it better?” Wade wrote. “So we listened and had honest conversations with everyone involved, and we all agreed to make adjustments to the head.”
“It gave us a chance to make sure the face better connects with the person and the emotion the statue is meant to represent,” Wade continued. “It’s about being willing to listen. It’s about recognizing when something carries meaning for more people than just yourself and being open enough to revisit it.”
At any rate, the reaction to the updated face on the statue has been positive, as the intention is for it to be there forever, as Wade's legacy is immortalized with the Heat.