[ads-post]
Dwyane Wade is candidly revealing how he has changed as a parent and a person to better support his child Zion Malachi Airamis grow up.

“I watched my son, from day one, become into who she now eventually come into,” the former Miami Heat player said about the 12-year-old on Showtime’s All the Smoke podcast Wednesday.


“And for me nothing changes in my love. Nothing changes in my responsibilities. So, all I had to do now is get smarter educate myself more. And that’s my job,” Wade — who is also father to Kaavia James, 13 months, Xavier Zechariah, 6, Zaire Blessing Dwyane, 17, and is guardian over nephew Dahveon Morris, 18  added.

“First of all, you want to talk about strength and courage, my 12-year-old has way more than I have,” Wade said on the podcast.

“You can learn something from your kids.”

The NBA star added that he and wife Gabrielle Union “talk about making sure our kids understand the power in their voice.”

“We want them to be whoever they feel that they can be in this world. That’s our goal. Understand you can be whoever and you can be whatever,” he continued, adding that that comes with helping them navigate not only sexuality, but growing up as “a young black man.”

“Me and my wife are having conversations about, you know, us noticing that, you know, Zion wasn’t on the boy vibe that Zaire was on. And I had to look myself in the mirror and say, ‘What if your son comes home and tell you he’s gay? What are you going to do? How are you going to be? How are you going to act?’ It ain’t about him. He knows who he is. It’s about you. Who are you?”

Wade also addressed his response to the wave of backlash his family received after a family photo showed Zion dressed in a crop top with long painted nails as they celebrated Thanksgiving this year.

“I’ve seen some post-thanksgiving hate on social about my family photo. Stupidity is apart of this world we live in, so I get it. But here’s the thing I’ve been chosen to lead my family not y’all. So we will continue to be us and support each other with pride, love & a smile!” the retired NBA star wrote on Twitter at the time.