The Miami Heat legend was a paradigm of a ‘tall, healthy guy with an athletic build’. That is until a regular full-body check-up proved otherwise. Dwyane Wade shook the basketball world when he shared his cancer diagnosis. After keeping the whole ordeal under the radar for over a year, he recently opened up about his journey. Naturally, it was a challenge for his wife, Union and his family members.

On 30 January, the NBA legend talked about the importance of a comprehensive health assessment. Where? On his podcast ‘The Why With Dwyane Wade’. The former player confessed that he hadn’t gone for one after he retired from the NBA in 2019. After his father’s experience with prostate cancer, he suddenly felt the need for a full-body scan.

Above all, he had been going through stomach discomfort and urine flow issues. But what awaited him was devastating news. As the biopsy failed, he had to undergo a life-altering surgery where 40% of his right kidney needed to be removed. And expectedly, his cancer cells turned out to be malignant. Knowing the overwhelming emotions and anxieties his family would face, he hid the diagnosis from them.

Gabrielle speaks about the diagnosis for the first time while talking to Access Hollywood during the movie premier of “Riff Raff. Union updated, “He’s cancer-free now. He was smart to delay talking about his diagnosis and the surgery for over a year to give us all a little time to make peace with it and let all of our very intense fears kind of dissipate a little bit, but he’s brave. He’s doing well. We are proud of him that he was brave enough to not only go through all the things that he needed to do to take care of his health but to share it with the world and hopefully save other people.”

Further, during her appearance with ‘TODAY with Jenna & Friends’, Union explained the reason behind D-Wade’s hesitation in bringing along his family on this tumultuous journey. She said, “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.” Emphasizing the toll it had on all of them, she commented, “It was a challenge to give grace and receive it.” Finally, the hidden messages on D-Wade and Gabrielle Union’s 10th-anniversary posts are falling into place.

Dwyane Wade’s strong persona clashed with a major threat

Recalling the power couple’s 10 anniversary, Union posted a series of videos and photos. One video particularly caught people’s attention. Right, it was the Flash’s speech. He said, “Year nine was so hard for us. So we’re sitting up here and we were kind of reminiscing how we got to even here.” He continued to thank Union for all the love and support she has given him.

The most confusing part was that 2024 was a fairly good year for D-Wade. Of course, before the cancer diagnosis revelation. He was an Olympic basketball commentator for NBC and had his statue unveiled in the Miami Heat arena. Besides, he also achieved a milestone in the film industry. The short film ‘The Barber of Little Rock’ that he produced got an Academy Award nomination for Best Documentary Short. His busy schedule and activities made it seem like everything was going well for the legend.

It’s as the saying goes, “Every heart has its own ache.” Who would have thought the dominant guy on the court was going through the ‘lowest point in his life’. D-Wade, the very family man, admitted, “I think it was the first time my family, my dad, my kids, they saw me weak. That moment was probably the weakest I’ve ever felt in my life.” Luckily, everyone got their healthy Dwyane Wade back.