Dwyane Wade on How Son Zion Pushed Him to Become a Better Parent: ‘I Had to Look at Myself in the Mirror’

Three-time NBA champion Dwyane Wade has collected plenty of accolades throughout the course of his illustrious career, but his greatest accomplishment is being a loving husband and parent.

To that end, neither role has been without its share of challenges, and as TMZ reports, he recently made a pitstop on the All the Smoke podcast to discuss how his son Zion pushed him to become a better parent.

“I had to look myself in the mirror when my son at the time was 3 years old and me and my wife started having conversations about us noticing that he wasn’t on the boy vibe that Zaire [Wade’s other son] was on,” Wade said. “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?’”

He added, “I grew up with the same perspective as a lot of these people out here that’s a little ignorant. I grew up with a similar perspective. And, you meet people along the way that help you take those glasses off and put on some different ones. Look [at] life through a different lens. That’s what my wife has been able to do. So, it’s been cool.”

He then went on to address the intolerance that his family has faced from cowards hiding behind usernames and avatars on the internet.

“All these people that’s out there saying these things, look at yourself. Understand that you’re the one that’s got the issues. You’re the one that’s got the problem,” he continued. “It’s not the kids, it’s not the ones who decide, ‘Yeah, you born a certain way, you gotta be that way.’ That’s not life, man.”

Wade also made it a point to note that while so many have lauded him for being so supportive of his son, it’s Zion who’s exhibited true strength.

“You want to talk about strength and courage?” he asked. “My 12-year-old has way more than I have. You can learn something from your kids.”

You can watch the interview in its entirety below: