Gabrielle Union is sharing her immense love for husband Dwyane Wade on his birthday this year.

A heartfelt video featured a montage of clips of the former NBA star over the voices of women saying, “I love you, Black man,” a viral trend in which users post messages expressing appreciation for Black men. She captioned her post, “Happy Birthday Baby. 44 never looked so good ❤️ @dwyanewade.”

Union and Wade tied the knot in 2014. They first met in 2007 but didn’t start dating for another two years. When they initially crossed paths, Union had recently divorced her first husband, former NFL player Chris Howard, while Wade was still married to his then-wife, Siohvaughn Funches, with whom he shares two children, Zaya, 18, and Zaire, 23.

Union and Wade went public with their relationship in 2010 and announced their engagement in 2013. After marrying a year later, Union became stepmom to Wade’s two children with Funches, as well as his son Xavier, 12, whom he shares with Aja Metoyer. Wade is also the guardian of his nephew, Dahveon Morris.

Wade has previously shared that he was smitten with Union from the very first date, admitting he “wasn’t really listening” to anything she said during their evening together.

“My wife’s so beautiful, and so when she was talking, I wasn’t really listening,” he said while appearing as a co-host on Today with Jenna & Friends in March 2025. “My apologies. I was just kind of looking at her eyes and her lips and all those things.”

The father of five also recalled that he did notice how “smart” and “intelligent” she was during their first encounter. “I was very attracted to the intelligence of her mind, but it was unfair because I already knew her as an actress,” he added.

During an August 2025 appearance on Michelle Obama’s IMO podcast, Union opened up about the challenges of first meeting her now-husband’s family. She revealed that his mother and older sister were initially skeptical of their nearly 10-year age gap.

“With [his older sister] Tragil… she has been the protector. She has been the watchdog. She has been the gatekeeper to keep [Dwyane] sane and to keep him doing everything he needs to do without interference from anybody,” Union explained.

“Before I got to the wife stage, like when we were just at the very beginning, I think Tragil and his mom were like, ‘What do you want? Who are you, you older lady? What do you want?’”

However, the *Bring It On* actress said that in the end, everything worked out beautifully.
https://people.com/gabrielle-union-celebrates-husband-dwyane-wade-44th-birthday-watch-instagram-video-11887869