Dwyane Wade and Gabrielle Union’s relationship — from their first meeting to making a family
He’s a former NBA icon, and she’s a big and small screen star — and together, Dwyane Wade and Gabrielle Union are a beloved power couple.
But the path that led them down the aisle and on the road to parenthood wasn’t an easy one for the pair. Before they wed, there was a breakup, a surprise addition to the family and an eventual reunion (that one of them says they wouldn’t agree to in retrospect).
Learn all about their relationship, from first meeting to making a family together.
February 2007: First meeting
Union first met Miami Heat's Wade when they were paired up to co-host a Super Bowl party on Feb. 4, 2007. But according to the “Bring It On” star, who’d divorced former NFL running back Chris Howard one year earlier, the bash didn’t lead to anything with Wade, who was in the midst of the breakup of his first marriage.
“When I met Dwyane, his ‘resume’ looked like crap: athlete, going through a divorce, nine years younger than me,” she recalled to Glamour. “None of that screamed, ‘Let’s have a lasting relationship.’”
However, Wade, who was 25 at the time, must have made a lasting impression on her all the same, because after Union experienced another “breakup with yet another immature jerk,” she reconsidered the age issue with Wade.
“I thought, ‘It can’t be any worse if I date a fetus. Let’s just see what happens,’” she explained in the same interview. “Turned out he’d been on his own since he was 15. He had wisdom that comes with facing an insane amount of adversity. He’s sweet, funny, honest about his shortcomings. When I put my preconceived notions to the side, I found someone cool.”
July 2010: Red carpet debut
Three years after their first meeting, Union and Wade made their red carpet debut together at the Summer Groove charity dinner in Hollywood, Florida, in July 2010.
A year earlier, they appeared to be seated together at the same event, hosted by Alonzo Mourning.
Early 2013: The (brief) breakup
Work drove a wedge between the duo in 2013, prompting them to go their separate ways for a few months.
“It was because of distance and scheduling,” Union told Glamour. “I finished filming (‘Being Mary Jane’), then I flew to Vegas right away to start shooting ‘Think Like a Man Too.’ I couldn’t take time off, and I missed some quality togetherness we desperately needed. Over the summer, I reassessed priorities. I’d always wanted an awesome career with back-to-back projects, but I realized I wasn’t willing to sacrifice my relationship for it.”
November 2013: The baby bombshell
During their time apart, Wade was involved with another woman, “Basketball Wives” star Aja Metoyer. That led to the birth of his third child in November of 2013. He previously had two other children with his first wife, Siohvaughn Funches.
“I had a time, a part in our break, in our pain and our hurt, a blessing came out of it in my life, having a son that was born healthy,” Wade explained in a press conference at the time, according to "E! News."
While he and Union healed the rift between them, looking back on it later, Union believes she would have made a different choice.
“The me of today would not have stayed with him, but would I be who I am now without that pain? That fiery explosion that created life and light?” she wrote in her 2021 memoir, “You Got Anything Stronger?” “The advice I would give myself now would be to leave. ‘You don’t have to do this. You don’t think you have an option, but you do. Save yourself.’”
December 2013: The engagement
Not only did she decide to get back together with Wade after the breakup and baby news, in December of the same year, Union said yes when the NBA champ popped the question.
Wade shared the news on his Instagram page Dec. 21, along with a photo of the ring on Union's finger and the caption: "She said YES!!! @gabunion."
Union also marked the news on her Instagram page, writing, "Sooooo this happened... #Yessss 💃💃💃👏👏👏🙏🙏🙏😍😍😍 @dwyanewade."
August 2014: Union and Wade say ‘I do’
The couple wed Aug. 30, 2014, in a private ceremony that took place in Miami, according to The New York Times.
Wade told the newspaper he took charge of the wedding planning because he's "about the small details."
"She’s not a girlie girl either," he added about Union.
In the weeks that followed the big event, they shared glimpses of the honeymoon on social media, which took them on adventures from Africa’s Serengeti to the Maldives and the Seychelles.
November 2018: Expanding the family
After years of devastating fertility struggles that included multiple rounds of IVF and “eight or nine miscarriages,” on Nov. 7, 2018, Union and Wade celebrated the birth of daughter Kaavia James Wade, their first child together, via surrogate.
“We are sleepless and delirious but so excited to share that, our miracle baby, arrived last night via surrogate and 11/7 will forever be etched in our hearts as the most loveliest of all the lovely days. Welcome to the party sweet girl!” Union wrote in an Instagram post.
The new baby made for a big brood as Union was already stepmother to the two children Wade has with Funches, Zaire and Zaya, as well the child he shares with Metoyer, Xavier. The couple were also raising Wade’s nephew, Dahveon Morris, at the time.
“I never wanted kids,” Union told People. “Then I became a stepmom, and there was no place I’d rather be than with them.”
July 2020: Wade and Union take a stand for Zaya
The year 2020 was another big one for the family as they shared the news that one of Wade’s children, Zaya, is transgender. And in July, at the 31st annual GLAAD Media Awards, the parents made sure the world knew that the teen had their full support.
“We stand as allies with the LGBTQ+ community as proud parents of a transgender child,” Wade said via video at the virtual ceremony. “Our daughter Zaya is leading us in our journey, and we’re doing all we can to give every one of our kids the ability to live their truth.”
May 2021: A 'Shady' collaboration
Union released her first children’s book, “Welcome to the Party,” in 2020, inspired by the birth of Kaavia a year and a half earlier, and on May 18, 2021, she was back on the bestsellers list with a new children’s book and a new co-author.
Wade and Union penned “Shady Baby,” also based on Kaavia, together. The pair followed that up a year later with another co-authored release, “Shady Baby Feels: A First Book of Emotions.”
November 2022: Indelible love
Wade got a tattoo to celebrate his bond with Union in 2022 — a simple heart followed by the initials “GU.”
Union shared a video from the tattoo studio on Instagram, just days after her 50th birthday, along with the caption, “The moment you find out your man has made you his 17th 🧐 tattoo. 🖤🖤🖤”
May 2023: Marriage is a 50/50 affair
In a May 2023 chat for Bloomberg Originals, Union revealed, “In this household, we split everything 50/50.”
It was a straightforward comment that took some fans by surprise, given Wade’s hefty net worth. But just one month later, during an interview for the “Club Shay Shay” podcast, the man who owns a stake in the Utah Jazz explained why he and his wife split everything down the middle.
“I said something about it being my house that I paid for,” Wade recalled of their old home in Miami. “My wife looked at me and she was like, ‘You will never say that to me again when it’s something that we share. And so, my wife was like, ‘When we move to LA, I got half on it. You will never say “my house” again.’ She said, ‘You can say that in the arena!’”
This article was originally published on TODAY.com
