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Dwyane Wade

Source: Michael Reaves / Getty

In his new ESPN documentary, D. Wade: Life Unexpected, Dwyane Wade discusses his rocky relationship and divorce from his ex-wife, Siohvaughn Funches, who he met in high school. According to Wade, Funches offered an escape from the turmoil he was dealing with at home.

“Siohvaughn Funches was my high school girlfriend. Siohvaughn had her own car, she had a job, money, this and that,” he said. “We started spending a lot of time together because it got me away from the noise and everything going on at my house.”

However, things in their relationship began to take a turn for the worse when Funches became pregnant with their oldest son, Zaire.

“I broke down. I thought my career, my life is over. Our relationship was rocky,” Wade recalled. “We got together at 16 years old so we had a lot of differences and we didn’t know how to handle those. I wasn’t a big argument, fight type person because I grew up hearing my parents do that and I didn’t want that to happen to Zaire, so I would just not address it.”

Wade eventually filed for divorce in 2007; however, the divorce wasn’t finalized until 2010.

“My divorce was taking forever. She wound up having 13 different lawyers in the process. So every time you get a new lawyer, the case starts over,” Wade recalled.

The divorce proceedings and custodial lawsuit also placed a strain on the couple’s co-parenting relationship.

“I’m having a hard time having a relationship with my kids, seeing my kids. A lot of times she would not bring them out and I would have to get the police involved to find her,” he said. “It became ugly and nasty. My emotions were all over the place because on one hand, you want to celebrate a victory, but on the other end, no one wins. There’s no winner in a custody battle.”

Following his divorce in 2008, Dwyane started dating Gabrielle Union whom he eventually married. Today, the two share a one-year-old daughter, Kaavia James Wade.

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