Before Dwyane Wade Statue Debacle, Artist Behind Kobe Bryant's Statue Faced Severe Criticism Too

On Sunday, October 27th, the Miami Heat unveiled a statue of Dwyane Wade outside the Kaseya Center. He became the first player in the franchise’s history to receive the illustrious honor. However, the statue itself has been subject to criticism due to its questionable appearance. Many claim that it doesn’t look like Wade in the slightest, which isn’t the first time an NBA player’s statue has received backlash.

The Heat called on the skill of a husband-and-wife duo, Omri and Julie Rotblatt-Amrany to sculpt the statue of Wade. Their experiences include the legendary Michael Jordan statue of his iconic pose during his free-throw line dunk. Along with Kobe Bryant’s notorious statue. However, similar to the reaction to Wade’s statue, the sculpture of Kobe resulted in a great uproar from fans.

The Lakers unveiled Bryant’s statue on February 8, 2024. The gesture of the Lakers legend featured a pose he made during his 81-point game against the Toronto Raptors, in which he pointed to the sky.

The statue received criticism for its lack of details on the face of the five-time NBA champion. Moreover, there were three egregious spelling mistakes made on the statue.

The misspelling of Lakers guard Von Wafer’s name as ‘Vom Wafer’ was just the first mistake. Raptors point guard, Jose Calderon’s name was spelt as ‘Jose Calderson’. The statue also featured the misspelling of ‘Coach’s Decision’ as ‘Coach’s Decicion’.

The amount of mistakes on Bryant’s statue came as a surprise considering the track record of the sculpture duo. Many people widely recognize their sculpture of Michael Jordan inside the United Center as one of the sport’s most iconic statues.

However, the criticism that the artists received from the statue of Kobe pales in comparison to the backlash from the recently unveiled Wade statue. One of the artists who worked alongside Omri, Oscar Leon, adamantly defended their work. He said,

“To the critics, there’s a lot that needs to be understood. We have to seal everything to keep the integrity of the sculpture. However, that does create a funny little side effect of being glossy in areas that we are not used to seeing when we look at somebody in the flesh.”

Leon pointed out the functionality of the statue, saying that it caused some of the areas of concern from fans and outside figures. He mentioned that critics don’t factor in that the process of making a statue is more difficult than it seems. However, their work on Wade and Bryant’s statues hasn’t left them exempted from criticism.

NBA statues made by the artist

Omri and Julie Rotball-Amrany worked on the statues for Wade, Bryant, and Jordan. However, there is another statue featuring an NBA star that they helped create. They assisted in creating the Kobe and Gianna Bryant Memorial Statue.

The statue was unveiled in August of 2024, and is located outside Crypto.com Arena in downtown Los Angeles. It features the NBA legend sitting with his daughter kissing her on her forehead.

The statue is a memorial to remember Kobe and Gianna, who passed away on January 26, 2020, due to a helicopter accident. Setting aside the mistakes on the Dwyane Wade statue, this masterpiece was a true work of art.