Children of basketball players often follow in their parents’ footsteps and pursue the sport, which is what Dwyane Wade hoped for his daughter Zaya before she transitioned.
Wade, 41, discussed that era of his family’s life with Shannon Sharpe on his Club Shay Shay podcast, adding that he initially expected Zaya to play basketball with LeBron James and Carmelo Anthony’s sons.
“I have Zaya. LeBron has Bryce. Melo has Kiyan. All within a 2 to 3 week span,” Wade told the host, per Daily Mail. “All our kids gonna grow up hooping together. ‘Oh we on! Boy we gonna have 3 babies! We on!’”
“You couldn’t tell me that we wouldn’t be on the circuit right now, baby! We hooping,” he also said. But Zaya, born Zion Malachi Airamis Wade, came out as tra****nder at the age of 12. “See what happens when you start making plans for other people’s lives?” Wade said.
Zaya, 16, and another son are shared by the Miami Heat legend and his ex-wife Siohvaughn Funches. He is also the father of a daughter with his current wife, Gabrielle Union, and a boy with Aja Metoyer. Wade also discussed Zaya’s transformation and how it hasn’t impacted his feelings for her.
“Then, I got to meet my child. And a lot of people like to talk about Zaya’s transition, but to me, Zaya hasn’t transitioned into anything,” the NBA champion told Sharpe. “She’s but a kid, and now becoming a young adult,” he added.