Fans cannot seem to overlook a void in the picture-perfect images of Dwyane Wade and Gabrielle Union’s family, the absence of the former NBA star’s youngest son, Xavier.
On Nov. 7, the baby of the Wade family, Kaavia James, celebrated her sixth birthday. Photos of her grand Barbie-themed bash in the backyard of their Los Angeles home were uploaded four days later on Instagram. Posts of the fun-filled day were showered with comments raving about the parent’s obvious love for her.
“You guys should plan for another kid !!! I just love it,” a fan wrote. Another said, “You can really feel how much she loves and adores her dad through the pics and videos posted. It’s so sweet and whole.”
But for a third individual, the happy moment was a reminder that Xavier is never shown as a participant during the holidays or special events with the entire Wade family. The outraged individual wrote, “It’s wild that his other son is Never included shame on YALLL !”
It has been well documented that the actress and retired NBA star are a bit of a blended familial unit, with Union being a bonus mom to her husband’s children, Zaya and Zaire and his adopted nephew Dahveon.
Wade welcomed the elder two children with his first wife, Siovaughn Funches. Funches and the Chicago native married in 2002 but separated in 2007. Their divorce was finalized in 2010, and the following year, in 2011, Wade gained sole custody of their kids.
LeBron with Dwyane Wade’s son Xavier last night pic.twitter.com/zf8yD7qboK
— Bronupdates (@Bronupdates) November 13, 2023
The surprise addition of Xavier unfolded on Nov. 10, 2013. The news hit the press soon afterward. The former Miami Heat player and Union were briefly broken up after three years of dating when Wade impregnated former “Basketball Wives” cast member Aja Metoyer. He alleged that, unbeknownst to the public, the two had been friends for some time.
Union and her longtime love reconnected shortly after he learned he was expecting his third child. The former Miami Heat star has since gone on record to reveal that telling Union about his “break baby” was the hardest thing he has ever done — “harder” than losing the NBA Finals to the San Antonio Spurs in 2014.
“Yeah I did,” Wade responded, “Man, listen, let me tell you I couldn’t have gotten through that moment without her sticking with me.” Wade stated to Shannon Sharpe on “Club Shay Shay” in September 2023. “It was a rough time for me, bro.”
However, it did not hinder them from tying the knot in 2014. Due to the “Deliver Us From Eva” star’s struggles with infertility, they were unable to welcome their only biological child together, Kaavia, until 2018 with the help of a surrogate.
But with birthday festivities and loving posts being shared, public acknowledgment of Xavier is nowhere to be found on either of the A-lister’s social media. Metoyer seldomly posts her son online and opted to not share the footage she captured of his birthday party.
Instead, in her Instagram Story, she reshared a friend’s video of the 11-year-old blowing out the candles on his cake as loved ones gathered around him in a kitchen. The co-parents previously came together to celebrate Xavier’s birthday in 2020.
Wade and the “Perfect Find” star came under fire in early November when the young son was seemingly excluded from the unveiling of the baller’s statue outside of Kaseya Center. The couple never addressed the hearsay.
Though at least one person theorized, “Now how do people not know if the child had other plans with his mother? That’s a random question to ask. Let those people live their family dynamics how they want!”
For a moment last year, fans nearly convinced themselves that Xavier would be shown more public acknowledgment after being spotted courtside at a Lakers game with his dad. Around that same time, rumors of a split between Wade and Union were also at their apex.
