Wearing his heart on his sleeve. Dwyane Wade surprised wife Gabrielle Union by getting her initials tattooed on his wrist during a family trip to South Africa.
“The moment you find out your man has made you his 17th 🧐 tattoo. 🖤🖤🖤,” the 50-year-old Bring It On star wrote via Instagram on Thursday, November 10, alongside a video of her shocked reaction after seeing the 40-year-old NBA player’s new ink. “@dwyanewade made his best bday surprise for #SouthAfrica WadeWorldTour2022.”
After a delighted Union gave Wade a kiss, he showed his tattoo to their daughter, 4-year-old Kaavia James. “Wow,” the little one exclaimed, before giggling and running away.
“Best bday gift yet,” the L.A.’s Finest alum captioned the clip, which featured several shots of the retired athlete’s new addition: a small heart with the letters “G” and “U.”
Wade’s dedication to Union comes one week after his ex-wife, Siohvaughn Funches, filed a petition to block their 13-year-old daughter, Zaya, from having her name legally changed. In her filing, the podcast host, 41, also accused the former Miami Heat player of financially benefitting from Zaya’s gender identity.
“I have concerns that [Wade] may be pressuring our child to move forward with the name and gender change in order to capitalize on the financial opportunities that he has received from companies, and will receive based upon [his] statements to me, on the basis of our child’s name and/or gender change,” Funches — who also shares son Zaire, 20, with Wade — said in court documents obtained by Us Weekly on November 2.
“I am concerned that our child is being commercialized at a young age and also of the uncontrollable consequences of media exposure i.e. cyber bullying, statements and/or pictures taken out of context of our child, and unwanted spotlight focused on our child,” Funches continued. “I contend that our child should be given the opportunity to decide for themselves at the age of majority if they want to move forward with changing their name and/or gender.”
Wade is also the father of son Xavier, 8, whom he shares with Aja Metoyer. The Illinois native has been outspoken about his support of Zaya since publicly revealing her gender identity in February 2020 — and he didn’t hesitate to fire back at Funches via Instagram.
“Since this must be the new way of parenting, I guess I have to address these allegations here, which is a damn shame,” he wrote earlier this month, refuting his ex-wife’s “serious and harmful allegations” about their child. “While none of us are surprised by Siohvaughn’s attempt to fight Zaya’s identity and her unwavering attempt to drag my name through the mud, I’m very disappointed that she continuously find ways of centering herself and HER needs, without regard to her children.”
He continued: “All I ever wanted was to have my parenting time uninterrupted, as I knew that it would be a very difficult time for our kids to navigate their new normal. So Instead of actually trying to co-parent over the years, she’s left her home to see more lawyers and has taken the time to talk to more lawyers since I filed for divorce, than she’s left her home to actually see or have truly spoken and LISTENED to Zaya over all these years.”
Wade concluded his post by explaining that their daughter “is not that same 3 year [sic] child anymore and she’s screaming that to the world but most importantly to her Mother,” and he encouraged Funches to listen to their teen. “No one in our house would ever force Zaya or any of our children to do anything against their will, much less force an identity on them. This isn’t a game for my family and definitely not for Zaya,” he added. “This is her life.”
