As far as NBA couples go, few can compare to the fame and popularity of Dwyane Wade and Gabrielle Union.
Between their natural charisma and superior charm, they make a great match and are viewed as role models by many couples around the globe.
Still, even they have their dark past.
About a decade ago, before they were officially married, Wade had a child with another woman — the ultimate act of betrayal. At the time, it devastated Gabrielle, as she would go on to tell reporters.
“In 2013, before we were married, Dwyane had a baby with another woman,” Union wrote in her new memoir, via Sam Leweck of Heat Nation. “It should go without saying that we were not in a good place in our relationship at the time that child was conceived. But we were in a much better place when he finally told me about the pregnancy. To say I was devastated is to pick a word on a low shelf for convenience. There are people — strangers who I will never meet — who have been upset that I have not previously talked about that trauma. I have not had words, and even after untold amounts of therapy I am not sure I have them now. But truth matters.”
Much time has passed since that ordeal, and while all Union has forgiven her husband, she still looks back on that moment occasionally from a new perspective and even writing in her book that the woman she is today would not have stayed with Wade.
“The me of today would not have stayed with him, but would I be who I am now without that pain? That fiery explosion that created life and light? The advice I would give myself now would be to leave. ‘You don’t have to do this. You don’t think you have an option, but you do. Save yourself.’ ”
Looking back, it seems Union just isn’t willing to put up with the same thing she was back then. if she could prevent the hurt and pain that situation caused, she’d do it.
“Who I am, the healing that I’ve fought for, the peace that I have fought for, I wouldn’t. I just wouldn’t,” Union said. “That’s not what happened, but there is wisdom from perspective and time and therapy and personal evolution and accountability that changes things.
One of the things I learned about giving advice is don’t take advice from anyone doing something about anything that they haven’t succeeded at. So if you’re gonna ask me, a divorced woman who’s had a gang of relationship challenges about what you should do in a relationship, you’ve already failed. I could give you my coulda, woulda, shoulda, but at the end of the day, I didn’t. So be careful when and who you ask for advice about what to do in the moment.”
Gabrielle Union On Why She Said The Woman She Is Today Wouldn't Have Stayed With Dwyane Wade: "It's the truth." pic.twitter.com/boy3mKVxq2
— Brande Victorian (@Be_Vic) September 21, 2021
It’s obviously an incredibly tough situation for anyone to go through, and not everyone would have handled it the same way.
But props to Gabrielle for seeing it through, working things out, and having the guts to speak so openly about such a sensitive and personal ordeal.
