Dwyane Wade is recalling the moment he had to let go of wanting his daughter Zaya Wade to follow in his footsteps and become a basketball player.
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While sitting down with Shannon Sharpe on his ‘Club Shay Shay‘ podcast, Wade not only spoke about the moment when he told his now-wife Gabrielle Union about fathering a child with someone other than her, but he also spoke about the moment he had to let his daughter Zaya choose her own path in life.
As we know, Wade fathered Zaire Wade, 21, and Zaya Wade, 16, with his high school sweetheart and ex-wife Siohvaughn Funches-Wade. He then welcomed Xavier Wade, 9, with Aja Metoyer, during a break with Union. Then he and Union welcomed their daughter Kaavia Wade, 4. Wade is also the legal guardian of his sister’s biological son, Dahveon Morris.
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During the sit-down with Sharpe, Wade recalls thinking about how he believed fans would get the next generation of Dwyane Wade, LeBron James, and Carmelo Anthony with their mini-mes. He said, “I have Zaya. LeBron has Bryce. Melo has Kiyan. All within a 2-3 week span. All our kids gonna grow up hooping together. ‘Oh, we on! Boy, we gonna have three babies! We on!’”
But, Dwyane Wade had reality hit him, and realized he had to let go of the idea of Zaya Wade walking in his footsteps to become the next Wade basketball player. He said, “I had a boy. I had another boy, and that was my second in a row. And see what happens when you start making plans for other people’s lives?” Wade and Shannon agreed that now it’s Zaya’s journey to complete.
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Wade admitted, “You couldn’t tell me that we wouldn’t be on the circuit right now, baby! We hooping! Then I got to meet my child. And a lot of people like to talk about Zaya’s transition, but to me, Zaya hasn’t transitioned into anything. She’s but a kid, and now becoming a young adult. I’ve watched her go through life. There hasn’t been any transition for us. There’s been a transition for the world, but for us, I see the same kid that I’ve seen since May 29, 2007. Nothing has changed.”
Wade continued, “I think about the safety of my kid. I think about the safety of other kids in the trans community. I think about how the world is trying to hush and exile an entire community like they do not exist. As Black people, don’t we know about that? Damn right, we do. And we’re the main ones that are talking about the trans community. The main ones that won’t open and accept, and we want the world to accept us. Like, what are we doing?”
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