Before tying the knot with actress Gabriella Union in 2014, Dwyane Wade was married to childhood sweetheart Siohvaughn Funches for eight years. They were together since they were 16 but started to grow apart before Wade filed for divorce in 2007. However, their separation wasn’t easy and he had to deal with an ugly fallout that nearly ruined his reputation.
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During the divorce hearing, Funches alleged that the Heat icon gave her an STD when they were together. In his book, ‘A Father First’, he revealed that the allegation led to him getting dirty looks.
He provided several test results to prove that if her claim was true, he wasn’t responsible for it. However, the damage was already done. Wade wrote,
“The damage some of these accusations caused led me to file a defamation suit against her. The claims were discredited and her suit was eventually withdrawn. But before that happened, the gossip went global and was relentless. Not being paranoid or anything, I was pretty sure that when I was out and about people were giving me dirty looks.”
After a long battle, their divorce was finalized in 2010. However, that didn’t put an end to their issues.
Wade and Funches butted heads over daughter Zaya’s transition
Following their legal separation in 2010, Wade wanted sole custody of their two children, son Zaire and daughter Zaya. The legal battle affected him on the court as his impact dwindled. However, he was determined to win it.
The custody battle was concluded in 2011 in favor of the NBA veteran. Wade expected that to be the end of her disputes with his ex-wife. However, they had another public spat when their transgender daughter changed her name to Zaya.
zaya wade for dazed pic.twitter.com/Av2gFoUWTc
— jonah (@j444nah) March 15, 2023
The Hall of Famer was supportive of his daughter’s transition and filed the legal paperwork to allow her to adopt her new identity. However, Funches had an issue with it and called out Wade, alleging that he was supporting Zaya’s transition for his own financial gain.
She even appealed for a judge’s intervention to stop the process of the name change until their daughter was 18. It took until 2023, but she was granted the change and now goes by Zaya Malachi Airamis Wade.
