11 ugliest sports statues ever: Ranking the worst tributes, from Dwyane Wade to Ichiro Suzuki

11 ugliest sports statues ever: Ranking the worst tributes, from Dwyane Wade to Ichiro Suzuki originally appeared on The Sporting News . Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here . A statue is one of the greatest honors an athlete or coach can receive.

Typically rarer than a retired number, an individual effectively becomes immortal when he or she becomes a permanent fixture in bronze, whether outside a venue or in the heart of a city. In a few rare cases, athletes might be wishing their statue wasn't so permanent, though. While a majority of sports statues, from Michael Jordan's dunking effigy in Chicago to Roberto Clemente's tribute outside PNC Park, are iconic, these are memorable for the wrong reasons.

The Sporting News ranks the 11 ugliest sports statues erected, from Dwyane Wade to Wayne Gretzky. MORE: Breaking down the heaviest players in NFL history 11. Wayne Gretzky (1989) Location: Rogers Place, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada Description: Originally unveiled in 1989 during his historic playing career and moved to Rogers Place in 2016, the statue of Wayne Gretzky mostly captures his face and hair accurately but misses the mark elsewhere for the most legendary figure in hockey history.

The Oilers logo on Gretzky's bronze jersey is so faint that you almost have to squint to see it. From a distance, it looks as though Gretzky is just wearing a sweater — and not necessarily a hockey sweater. Most of the iconic images of Gretzky lifting the Stanley Cup also show "The Great One" with more emotion on his face than the calm, generic-looking smile depicted on the statue.