Dwayne Wade is Proud to Watch Child 'Become Who She Has Come Into'

Dwyane Wade is stepping up to the plate by being a super supportive parent yet again.

During an hour long guest spot on basketball podcast All the Smoke earlier this week, Wade spoke up about the conversations that have been happening surrounding his support of his 12-year-old, Zion, who attended Pride with stepmom Gabrielle Union this summer and was recently seen in a family Thanksgiving photo with painted nails.

“We want [our kids] to be whoever they feel that they can be in this world,” Wade said. “In our household, that’s all we talk about. We talk about making sure our kids be seen by each of us. Me and my wife, we talk about making sure our kids understand the power in their voice.”

But he’s seen the backlash from people on Twitter who feel that allowing a kid to paint his nails is stripping him of his masculinity, or who think that supporting your queer kids at a young age is irresponsible. And Wade has spoken up time and time again to let the haters know that they aren’t his kids’ parents, and he’s doing what he knows to be right.

“When I respond, it’s because I understand my platform. I understand that I’m speaking for a lot of people who don’t have the same voice that I have.”

Wade added that he had longer prepared for the possibility that Zion would come out to him one day. As early as when Zion was three, he says “me and my wife [were] having conversations about, you know, us noticing that, you know, [Zion] wasn’t on the boy vibe that Zaire was on.”

“And I had to look myself in the mirror and say, ‘What if your son comes home and tell you he’s gay? What are you going to do? How are you going to be? How are you going to act?’ It ain’t about him. He knows who he is. It’s about you. Who are you?”

But perhaps the most poignant moment in an interview filled with them came when Wade, who had been referring to Zion as his son, and with the “he” pronoun throughout the discussion, switched it up for just a moment.

“I watched my son from day one become into who she now eventually has come into, you know what I’m saying?” he said, emphasizing the ‘she.’

While it's unknown whether "she/her" are now Zion's preferred pronouns or if the 12-year-old is trying different ones on for size to see what feels right, the fact that Wade so casually switched to "she" without explaining or qualifying really solidifies the fact that he's trying to be as supportive of his kids as he can.

“Nothing changes of my love. Nothing changes of my responsibilities," he said. "Only thing I gotta do now is get smarter and educate myself more. And that’s my job."

The full podcast can be found below, and the discussion of Wade's parenting begins around 30:30.