Dwyane Wade’s first relationship started when he was just nine years old.
Then, he first met Siohvaughn Funches-Wade, the woman who eventually became his schoolmate and first wife. Wade and Funsch-Wade married in 2002 and have two children, Zaire also Zaya.
Although the court case surrounding their breakup ended in 2013, the former couple is now back on trial. This time over their transgender daughter Zaya.
Wade, who has been marry to Gabrielle Union since 2014, petitioned in August 2022 to officially change her name and gender. Two months later, Funches-Wade filed court documents opposing the change in November. Claiming that the former NBA star “could benefit from the name and gender change” and raising concerns that it would “pressure” him that Zaya could get financial gain.
The exes continued the feud on social media, with Wade calling Funchess-Wade an “absent parent” while Funchess-Wade claimed he was acting within his “parental rights and authority”.
Who is Dwyane Wade’s ex-wife? Here’s everything you need to know about Siohvaughn Funches-Wade.
Funches-Wade initially met Wade in fifth grade, also the 2 began date when they both attended Harold L. Richards School in Oak Lawn, Illinois, a Chicago suburb. During Wade’s junior year of school, Wade even move in with Funches-Wade and his mother, according to The Washington Post.
Wade’s motives for moving to Funches-Wade were twofold, the publication reports. Wade’s father, whom he describes as a “fighter,” was having marital problems with Wade’s stepmother at the time. And the basketball star viewed the bickering as a nuisance. And Funchess-Wade, who was a year ahead of Wade in school, attended college before him — and he could call her more often at her mother’s house.
“It was a very meaningful relationship back then, very loving,” Funchess-Wade told the Daily Mail of their teenage romance. Funchess-Wade gave birth to their first child on February 4, 2002 – a son named Zaire. Wade and Funchess-Wade were then only 20 years old; Wade is a sophomore at Marquette University.