The Miami Heat's Dwyane Wade statue has received plenty of criticism, including from Bill Simmons. Screen grab: ESPN

Sunday was supposed to be a day of celebration for Dwyane Wade.

Instead, it wound up a day of mockery.

Months after announcing that the three-time NBA champion would be honored with a statue, the Heat unveiled the final product outside of the Kaseya Center. And the sculpture was met with immediate backlash, with many baffled by how little it actually looked like Wade.

Among those to criticize the Wade statue was Bill Simmons, who did so on Sunday night’s episode of The Bill Simmons Podcast.

“The biggest loser of the day was Dwyane Wade who had the worst statue of all time. What did, what did you think it looked like?” Simmons asked ‘Cousin’ Sal Iacono, before offering his own opinion. “It looked like somebody who had emerged from a fire and lived. It was like Jim Carrey’s [Fire Marshal Bill] sketch. Can you imagine having a statue look that bad of yourself being unveiled? What would you even say? ‘Uh, thanks?’ There’s never been a worse sports statue ever. I mean it got rightfully killed today.”

“It was like Gollum or something. Like who was it?” Iacono replied “It really looks like a freaky, like some kind of a lord of the Lord of the Rings character or some s**t.”

“It’s so funny,” Simmons continued. “How many guesses would you have taken before you knew that was Dwyane Wade. Like, ‘Hey, a famous athlete got a statue today.’ That would’ve taken me 700 guesses.”

“I would’ve guessed Sam Cassel like 500 times first. And then I still would’ve been wrong,” Iacono joked.

For what it’s worth, Wade was heavily involved in the the creation of the statue and appears to be thrilled with the final product (while the Miami media has been quick to conveniently note the Heat didn’t have much say). And while that should count for something, that also won’t stop the rest of us from getting these jokes off.”

[The Bill Simmons Podcast]

About Ben Axelrod

Ben Axelrod is a veteran of the sports media landscape, having most recently worked for NBC's Cleveland affiliate, WKYC. Prior to his time in Cleveland, he covered Ohio State football and the Big Ten for outlets including Cox Media Group, Bleacher Report, Scout and Rivals.