Kamala Harris' running mate Tim Walz jokingly slams Dwyane Wade's statue sculptors, lauds Heat legend for "gracious" acceptance

Tim Walz, the vice presidential candidate of the Democratic Party and Kamala Harris' running mate, recently appeared on the Dan Le Batard Show. The Minnesota-based politician, a self-proclaimed sports fan, shared his thoughts on Dwyane Wade's newly unveiled statue outside the Kaseya Center, the Miami Heat's home arena.

Walz humorously addressed the statue's barely recognizable likeness to the Miami Heat legend while lauding his grace and composure in reacting to the questionable honor.

"How gracious was Dwyane Wade, though, because this was pretty horrific." - Tim Walz commented

To highlight how little the statue resembled Wade, Le Batard compared it to a plethora of other celebrities that it looked more like, including Laurence Fishburne, Kelsey Grammer, UFC President Dana White and Wade's former teammate Antoine Walker.

Walz reciprocated the humorous tone of the question, responding that even he mistook the statue for veteran actor Fishburne.

"When I saw the Laurence Fishburne, I said, man that is Laurence" - Tim Walz said

The Minnesota governor poked fun at the sculptors' struggle to capture Wade's image, which has been widely trolled online.

The sculptors of the statue were also the ones behind Dirk Nowitzki's statue outside Forbes Center, which has been lauded for its impressive depiction of the German's signature one-legged fadeaway.

Did Tim Walz get thrown out by Shaquille O'Neal from his restaurant?

In September 2024, a rumor started circulating online that Dwyane Wade's old teammate Shaquille O'Neal threw out Tim Walz from his Big Chicken restaurant, saying "Don't come back here, you're a disappointment."

The claim was also amplified by Vernon Jones, a former state representative from Georgia, on X (formerly Twitter). However, this claim has been debunked by the fact-checking website Snopes, which attributed the origin of this false rumor to the satirical website Esspots.com

During his two-decade long NBA career, O'Neal never endorsed or donated to a candidate. In 2020, he revealed on his "The Big Podcast" that he voted for the first time, filling out an absentee ballot.

"You know I always like being honest on my podcast. I've never voted before, America," O'Neal admitted. "But, now I'm doing all these voting campaigns, and you know one thing I never like to do is be a hypocrite."

While O'Neal's political views cannot be ascertained, it can be confirmed that he has not expelled any Democratic candidate from the premises of his restaurant.