Dwyane Wade Says He's 'Overjoyed' With His Statue (Exclusive)

• Dwyane Wade says he is in “disbelief” at his statue outside the Miami Heat arena
• The former NBA star told PEOPLE that he spent “a lot of time” working with the artist on the design
• Wade says he and his family are “overjoyed” by the honor

Dwyane Wade is still in awe that he has his own statue outside the Miami Heat arena.

Wade, 42, tells PEOPLE exclusively that he's “over the moon” that his likeness has been carved in stone outside the arena where he played for 13 years. “I can't believe it. That’s me in an artistic form,” Wade says.

“This is the artistic expression of a moment, one of the greatest moments in Miami Heat history, and I just can't believe I'm the one chosen.”

Wade played for the Heat from 2003 to 2016 before joining the Bulls and Cleveland Cavaliers for one season each. He ultimately returned to the Heat for one final season before retiring in 2019. His statue outside the arena depicts his legendary game against the Chicago Bulls in 2009, when he dominantly proclaimed, “This is my house” during the 48-point performance – according to Wade, this was the moment he and the Miami Heat organization agreed that this was the best choice for his statue.

The honor means everything to Wade, he tells PEOPLE. “I didn't have anyone I could look at and say, 'Man, look at the success this person in my family has had, and how do I do this?' And so I'm just grateful for the generations of my family, I'm grateful for the fans and supporters that I have.

The retired Heat star says “social media got” a video from the Oct. 27 reveal at the Kaseya Center in Miami that shows Wade and his 22-year-old son Zaire reacting to the reveal.

“They will make comments about what they think we think, but it was a moment where Zaire and I just looked at each other and shook our heads in disbelief that we were allowed to have a moment like this.” And that's how we saw each other to, father and son who have gone through this journey together, in disbelief.

Wade — who shares Zaire and Zaya, 17, with his ex-wife Siovaughn Funches, son Xavier, 10, with Aja Metoyer and daughter Kaavia James, 5, with his wife Gabrielle Union — says he and his family are “not worried about anyone “. Opinion” about the statue, which some fans criticized after the unveiling. “We were all just on top and no one could bring us down from our height. We are high up, we are overjoyed.”

“Everyone else’s opinion about it is their own opinion, and everyone has one, and they’re allowed to use it, but we don’t care about anyone else’s opinion. We wouldn’t have a statue if we ever cared about someone’s opinion.”

“I have a personal interest in all things Dwyane Wade, so I spent a lot of time thinking about how I wanted this statue to feel, look and express myself,” the Heat legend said.

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In fact, Wade worked closely with the statue's sculptors to design its appearance. “I probably traveled to Chicago to meet with them four times during this process… I spent at least three to four hours going through all the details that were important to me and understanding things,” Wade says, adding that he “that learned a lot” during the process.

“You choose your pose, you choose the moment, then they take photos of my real body, my real face, the way I look today. And from there you see it in a wiring process where the statue is made out of wires, and after that it's made out of clay, and then clay is a process to kind of shape it,” he explains.

Wade says he is “grateful” to have been able to work on the final statue, which will “stand up there every day and allow people to take photos with me.”