Dwyane Wade and Ex-Wife Siohvaughn Funches’ Ups and Downs Through the Years: A Timeline

After falling in love as teenagers, Dwyane Wade and Siohvaughn Funches’ relationship fizzled nearly five years after getting married. The NBA star and Funches initially connected in high school in their Illinois hometown and navigated their relationship as they went off to college. Wade and the AWOW Women entrepreneur eventually wed in 2002, one year before the basketball player entered the NBA’s annual draft. “I wanted to strike first. I wasn’t a big name in the class like those guys, so I needed something to separate myself or something that would put me on their level and winning a championship at 24 was that to me,” Wade said of his athletic achievements on the “Point Forward” podcast in August 2022. As the former athlete’s career started to climb, his family also grew. Wade and Funches welcomed son Zaire in February 2002 and daughter Zaya, who publicly came out as transgender in 2020, in May 2007. (The former Chicago Bulls star also shares son Xavier, born in November 2013, with Aja Metoyer and daughter Kaavia, born in November 2018, with wife Gabrielle Union.) “I think when it comes to your kids, I think different journeys and different places in life you see the different parents,” Wade exclusively told Us Weekly in June 2022 of fatherhood. “You see the different personalities come out of different parents and so I think they have a little bit of everyone in them and you just look for your percentage and you hope that the good percentage of you come out.” Shortly after Wade and Funches became parents of two, they decided to go their separate ways. Their divorce was finalized in 2013, nearly two years after the former shooting guard was awarded full custody of both Zaire and Zaya. “At first, it was like ‘I want custody,’ and I just had this emotional moment, and then I snapped back into [the fact] that I had so much to teach them and I had so much responsibility coming my way,” Wade said during a December 2019 appearance on the “All the Smoke” podcast. “And I had to put so many people around them … I needed to find people that I trust to put around my kids because [of] my job and my career. It takes me away from being around [them].” He added at the time: “It’s not easy at all being a single parent, but ultimately, you’re gonna do what’s best for your kids and I gotta tell my [kids], ‘We learn on the fly, we learn together. I’mma learn how to parent you guys about how you guys are. I’m not gonna parent you the same, you’re not the same.’ And [I] don’t expect that. I try to parent each of my kids differently. I support them differently. And so far, it’s working.” Funches, for her part, was upset about losing custody of her two children and she noted in her 2016 memoir, The True Story For God's Glory, that the court results were unfortunate. As the former couple attempted to maintain a coparenting relationship through the years, things hit a snag in November 2022 after the business owner accused Wade of profiting off of Zaya’s gender identity. “I have concerns that [Dwyane] 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 claimed in a court filing obtained by Us that November, referring to her ex-husband’s petition to legally change Zaya’s moniker. Wade, for his part, has publicly denied his ex’s claims. “These are serious and harmful allegations that have hurt our children,” he wrote via Instagram at the time. “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 added: “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.” Scroll below to revisit Wade’s rocky relationship with Funches: