Gabrielle Union Says Dwyane Wade's 'Traumatic' Kidney Cancer Struggle Took a 'Toll' on Their Marriage

Mar. 15, 2025

Dwyane Wade and Gabrielle Union in October 2024 in Miami Beach, Fla.Photo:Alexander Tamargo/Getty

Alexander Tamargo/Getty

Gabrielle Unionsays her husbandDwyane Wade’s 2023 cancer diagnosis contributed to a “very hard” year in their marriage, sharing that “being faced with your own mortality” in your early forties takes a “toll” on your relationships.“It was year nine of our marriage and … year nine was very hard,” Union, who married theHall of Famebasketball star in 2014, said during an appearance Feb. 26 onToday with Jenna & Friends.Union talked more about her husband’skidney cancer struggle,which he first disclosed in January of this year.“When you mention year nine being hard, he hadn’t revealed his cancer diagnosis and his own cancer journey, so now we can put it in more context,” Union, 52, says.Gabrielle Union and Dwyane Wade at his Hall of Fame induction celebration in 2023.Jerritt Clark/GettyWade, now 43, had 40% of his kidney removed after doctors found a cancerous tumor, and as Union says, “obviously him getting that diagnosis was traumatic for him: Being faced with your own mortality in your early forties, and you’re like, ‘Am I going to be here to see my family? Who am I without this big life, and without this healthy body?’ “She continued: “But you also don’t understand the journey and the toll that it takes on your marriage, on your family, on your kids.” Wade and Union share a daughter, Kaavia James, 6; the former Miami Heat star also shares two children with ex-wife Siovaughn Funches: Zaire, 22, andZaya, 17, as well as a son, Xavier, 11, with Aja Metoyer. Wade is also the legal guardian of his nephew, Dahveon Morris, 21.Union says Wade was “a little more hesitant to take us on that journey of healing.”As Wade previously said on hisThe WY Networkpodcast, “As a man, you never want your family to see you weak … Don’t want to be perceived weak, don’t want to be seen in your weakest moments but I had to [be].”Union elaborated on that point, saying,“That level of vulnerability, to go through removal of a good chunk of his kidney and the healing that involved, he needed us to be okay with his vulnerability but more than that, he needed to be okay with his vulnerability.”“It was a challenge,” she said. “It was a challenge to give grace and receive it.”Never miss a story — sign up forPEOPLE’s free daily newsletterto stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.

Gabrielle Unionsays her husbandDwyane Wade’s 2023 cancer diagnosis contributed to a “very hard” year in their marriage, sharing that “being faced with your own mortality” in your early forties takes a “toll” on your relationships.

“It was year nine of our marriage and … year nine was very hard,” Union, who married theHall of Famebasketball star in 2014, said during an appearance Feb. 26 onToday with Jenna & Friends.Union talked more about her husband’skidney cancer struggle,which he first disclosed in January of this year.

“When you mention year nine being hard, he hadn’t revealed his cancer diagnosis and his own cancer journey, so now we can put it in more context,” Union, 52, says.

Gabrielle Union and Dwyane Wade at his Hall of Fame induction celebration in 2023.Jerritt Clark/Getty

Jerritt Clark/Getty

Wade, now 43, had 40% of his kidney removed after doctors found a cancerous tumor, and as Union says, “obviously him getting that diagnosis was traumatic for him: Being faced with your own mortality in your early forties, and you’re like, ‘Am I going to be here to see my family? Who am I without this big life, and without this healthy body?’ “

She continued: “But you also don’t understand the journey and the toll that it takes on your marriage, on your family, on your kids.” Wade and Union share a daughter, Kaavia James, 6; the former Miami Heat star also shares two children with ex-wife Siovaughn Funches: Zaire, 22, andZaya, 17, as well as a son, Xavier, 11, with Aja Metoyer. Wade is also the legal guardian of his nephew, Dahveon Morris, 21.

Union says Wade was “a little more hesitant to take us on that journey of healing.”

As Wade previously said on hisThe WY Networkpodcast, “As a man, you never want your family to see you weak … Don’t want to be perceived weak, don’t want to be seen in your weakest moments but I had to [be].”

Union elaborated on that point, saying,“That level of vulnerability, to go through removal of a good chunk of his kidney and the healing that involved, he needed us to be okay with his vulnerability but more than that, he needed to be okay with his vulnerability.”

“It was a challenge,” she said. “It was a challenge to give grace and receive it.”

Never miss a story — sign up forPEOPLE’s free daily newsletterto stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.

source: people.com