It was never going to be, Chuck. After the unveiling of Dwyane Wade‘s statue, a visible question lingered on everyone’s mind. Many believe that the statue didn’t resemble Wade. Some even speculated that Wade had to pretend to like his statue. Allen Iverson’s sculpture had caused a lot of uproar on social media as well. So, Charles Barkley didn’t hold back, openly criticizing Wade’s statue. That is when he revealed that he himself had faced a similar situation.

Speaking on The Dan Patrick Show, the Philadelphia 76ers legend shared that his statue at Auburn initially had a poor shape. He also explained why this happened. Barkley revealed that the creators of his Auburn statue were working from several different photos of him, which resulted in an inaccurate final product.

However, he requested that they make corrections by using just one photo of him as a reference. “I met with those people the first time, it was a really awful-looking statue before they fit, got the finished product. I said, ‘Man what are you doing?’ And he says, ‘Well, I got like four or five pictures of you and I’m trying to merge them together,’” Chuck said.

As we see Barkley’s Auburn statue today, it’s a masterpiece. It’s hard to believe that the life-sized bronze statue didn’t meet his expectations at first. The statue captures him in an iconic pose, balancing a basketball in one hand. 

In a later interview, Barkley even expressed gratitude to Auburn University for making his statue appear skinny. He said, “I wanna thank you Auburn for making my statue skinny.” However, Charles Barkley was clearly disappointed with Wade’s statue and even made a demand.

Charles Barkley wants Dwyane Wade’s statue to be taken down

Everyone respects the Heat legend, and Chuck also holds Dwyane Wade in high regard. He agreed that the statue meant a lot to Wade and was a significant honor. However, he suggested that the statue should be taken down, calling it ugly and saying it doesn’t resemble the 3x NBA champion.

“It’s a great honor but they gotta take that thing down…If you made an ugly statue, that’s what it would look like. That thing is awful,” the Philadelphia 76ers legend said during the interview. Barkley explained that they had to emboss all of Wade’s stats behind the statue so people would recognize who it was. He added, “The statue was so bad they had to put all his stats behind it so you know who it was.”

But here’s the thing. Contrary to people’s assumptions, Wade seems satisfied with his statue. When asked about public reactions, Wade shared that he and his family aren’t bothered by the comments. Despite the Miami Heat legend’s repeated assurances, social media doesn’t seem ready to let go of the controversy.