Dwyane Wade On Why He Supported His 11-Year-Old Son Attending Miami Pride


Recently retired NBA star Dwyane Wade gave an interview this week in which he talked publicly for the first time about his 11-year-old son’s attendance at the Miami Pride celebration.

Photos first surfaced in April of Wade’s 11-year-old son, Zion, attending the Pride celebration along with Wade’s wife, actress Gabrielle Union, and his siblings. Wade, who was traveling with his team at the time, expressed support for his son and his attendance at Pride in an Instagram post.

In an interview this week with Variety, Wade talked about why he made that show of public support for his boy.

“I don’t really talk about it much because it’s Zion’s story to tell,” the NBA future Hall of Famer told Variety in an interview at the Cannes Lions conference in France. “I think as a family, we should support each other. That’s our job. And my job as a father is to facilitate their lives and to support them and be behind them in whatever they want to do.”

Wade’s Instagram message in support of his son also drew some backlash, at which the player bristled.

“I’m very uneasy about accolades that come from supporting my kids or the negativity that comes from it. I’m doing what every parent has to do,” he said.

Zion is one of Wade’s two sons from his first marriage to Siohvaughn Funches. That marriage ended in an ugly divorce and custody battle, which resulted in Wade having sole custody of the two sons during a large chunk of his NBA career.

Wade married Union in 2014, and the couple have a daughter together. Wade also has a son from a prior relationship during a “break” with Union. The retired player also, per The Miami Herald, raises a nephew, who is the son of Wade’s sister.

Wade’s other son from his first marriage, Zaire, will be a high school teammate this year of Lebron James, Jr., the son of Wade’s former teammate, per The Inquisitr.

Wade announced his retirement from basketball following the most recent NBA season. Wade played for 16 years in the NBA, mostly with the Miami Heat, although he also made stops with the Chicago Bulls and Cleveland Cavaliers. The 13-time All-Star won three NBA championships with Miami, where he is the all-time leading scorer in franchise history.

Wade went to France for the event as part of his endorsement relationship with Anheuser-Busch’s Budweiser brand.

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