Retired NBA legend Dwyane Wade had experienced a multiplicity of highs during his illustrious career that was punctuated by three NBA championships and a title MVP award with the Miami Heat.
But he said the moment that he had to admit to then-girlfriend Gabrielle Union that he had a secret love child represented one of the lowest and darkest moments of his entire life.
D-Wade is letting the world peek into his private life in his new ESPN documentary, “D. Wade: Life Unexpected” that will air on Sunday, Feb. 23, 2020.
D-Wade, 38, admits that during a lull in his relationship with Union in 2013, whom he had dated since 2008, Wade had romantic relations with actress Aja Metoyer. That illicit affair produced his now six-year-old son, Xavier. Metoyer later accepted a role on the popular show “Basketball Wives” reality TV show.
Having to break the news about his “break baby” with Union brought D-Wade to his knees.
“I had a child with someone else, and I had to tell her,” he shares. “Hardest thing I’ve ever had to do is man up and tell Gabrielle Union that I’ve had a child with somebody else. I couldn’t sleep. I wasn’t eating.”
D-Wade was already the father of two children, Zaire, 18, and Zaya, 12, with his ex-wife Siohvaughn Funches. After D-Wade divorced Funches, Wade also gained custody of his two sons and adopted his nephew, Dahveon, 18.
“When you hold something in that you know is going to come out and you have this information and you know it’s gonna f— somebody’s life up, that you care about, that you love, if it doesn’t hurt you, then you’re not human,” D-Wade continued.
Somehow, D-Wade and Union were able to reconcile their relationship. They announced their engagement later that year, in Dec. 2013, and got married in 2014.
“Me and Gab just went through something that you never want to go through and we still came out of it,” he said.
After D-Wade and Union were able to hurdle another set of devastating obstacles, the multiple miscarriages, and eventually adopted one-year-old daughter Kaavia. The new baby not only brought euphoria to the couple, but it also convinced D-Wade to hang up his jersey for the final time in 2019.
“That was my push away from the game,” he explained. “It was time. There just came a point when I had to look in the mirror and say, ‘What more do you want out of this?’”
