Dwayne Wade is a father of five, and his second to last child, Xavier, just turned 10. The father-son duo marked the occasion at the Lakers game on November 12 at the Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles, Calif.
Wade, 41, shared images on social media and said this was his son’s “best birthday to date.” Xavier got to enjoy some of the spotlight at the game as he received a birthday shoutout on the Jumbotron. He also got to take a picture with the legendary LeBron James and was gifted a Lakers jersey with the child’s name on the back.
Wade shared the picture on social media and wrote, “When you get to meet your favorite player” on the photo, while tagging James.
Wade had Xavier with Aja Metoyer in 2013 while the former NBA player was on a break with then-girlfriend and now-wife, actress Gabrielle Union. We haven’t seen much of Xavier publicly throughout the years, so it’s a pleasant surprise to see them out and about celebrating life together.
Earlier this year on Shannon Sharpe’s Club Shay Shay podcast, the NBA star was honest about how difficult it was to tell Union that he impregnated someone else.
“Way harder to have a conversation with my now-wife,” he said. “You try to think of everything possible. You’re thinking about it all, and it is all scary. The one situation is scary enough, but you know this is gonna hurt someone that you’ve been building a relationship and a life with.”
He also added that they attend therapy together and the past doesn’t go away just because he’s apologized or because time has passed. Union and Wade have been married since 2014 and now share one child together, Kaavia James Union Wade.
In Wade’s memoir Dwayne, which was published in 2021, he talked about the challenges that come with raising his son from a distance.
“Xavier doesn’t live with me, so we don’t get to see each other every day like I do with my other kids,” he shared. “It makes things challenging at times, but it’s my job to make sure he never has to carry that weight.”
He added, “It’s up to me to make sure he knows he’s being raised with love even if we don’t live under the same roof. And it’s up to me to let him know that while distance may physically separate us at times, I’m always going to be the man he can depend on to love him and help lead him.”
Happy birthday to Xavier and cheers to many more years!
