Here we go again! Dwyane Wade’s statue made the top spot, but not on the right list. It would be wrong to say we didn’t see this coming. The 3x NBA champ’s former teammate has responded to the criticism surrounding his statue, recently erected by the Miami Heat at the Kaseya Center, ranking Wade’s statue No. 1 on his infamous list of Shaqtin moments.

For those unfamiliar, Shaqtin’ a Fool is a segment hosted by Shaquille O’Neal that shows the hilarious NBA bloopers. O’Neal even joked to Charles Barkley that Wade’s statue could make a perfect Halloween prop. “The scariest thing this Halloween is the statue. How’s that statue look, Chuck?” O’Neal asked.

“I tell you what, if you put that in front of your house, there ain’t no kids coming. You don’t want kids in your house. That’s the way it went. That’s the way it went with the animated face, man,” Chuck said.

This wasn’t exactly a compliment, hinting that O’Neal might also have an issue with the statue’s appearance. Or perhaps it was just Shaq seizing the moment to poke fun at the social media memes that erupted after Wade’s statue unveiling. The Philadelphia 76ers legend Barkley was clearly upset with the statue. While he appreciated that it was a big honor for Wade he went on to ask to take the statue down.

“It’s a great honor, but they got to take that thing down,” Barkley said as Kenny Smith protested. However, Chuck was clear about his opinion. “He made an ugly statue. That’s what it would look like…that thing’s awful,” Barkley remarked.

Barkley wasn’t the only one who suggested a correction. Moreover, former NBA player Matt Barnes also expressed his doubt on whether the face could be changed.

Matt Barnes and Bill Simmons express disappointment over Dwyane Wade’s statue amid controversy

Speaking on the All The Smoke podcast, Matt Barnes discussed the need for further work on the statue, pointing out that its face didn’t resemble Wade. Fans and netizens alike echoed this concern. However, despite several assurances from Heat legend Dwyane Wade that he liked the statue, Barnes doubted that Wade was truly happy with the statue, as he appeared to be.

“Whoever did this statue, I’m sorry, bro. I’m not going to say nothing crazy because he might have known the artist, and I don’t want to offend nobody, but that needed some work,” Barnes said on the podcast.

Social media quickly filled with memes roasting it and making several such assumptions. Some memes involved photoshopping the statue’s face into real photos of Wade. Also, NFL legend Shannon Sharpe in his podcast even claimed that people wouldn’t recognize the statue without the Miami Heat jersey.

This was probably why Bill Simmons had such harsh criticism. Simmons was equally disappointed with the statue. Comparing the statue to Fire Marshall Bill, he said, “The biggest loser of the day was Dwyane Wade, who had the worst statue of all time. It looked like somebody who had emerged from a fire and lived…”

 There hasn’t been a change of mind on either party. While Wade held that he was satisfied with the statue, fans have continued to argue that it needs more work. The debate is likely to be stretched for more days.