Dwyane Wade: She attacked me
BY MARK J. KONKOL Staff Reporter
Dwyane Wade walks through the hallway on the Daley Center before his custody case against ex-wife Siohvaughn on Friday.
Miami Heat star Dwyane Wade testified in Cook County Circuit Court Friday that he's not the gun-toting, drug-using, wife-beating child abuser with sexually transmitted diseases that his ex-wife portrayed him to be in divorce court documents.
Wade, who is seeking sole custody of his two sons, said he resisted the urge to lash out when those allegations first made headlines, and was glad to have the chance to set the record straight.
"The biggest thing is to let your voice be heard, let your story be heard. A lot of things have been said about me . . . but at the end of the day my concern is for my kids," Wade said during a break in his testimony Friday. "It should all be about the kids."
Wade testified that he has never had a sexually transmitted disease, an allegation his wife made but later withdrew in court papers. Wade said he is tested for STDs as part of his annual NBA physical. He testified that he has never been diagnosed with or treated for any STDs.
"The biggest thing is to make sure that when something comes out about you that is false that you prove it's not true," Wade said. "It was never true."
Wade's attorney James Pritikin questioned Wade about the wide-ranging allegations that the NBA star's wife, Siohvaughn Wade, made in filings -- including claims that Wade had manhandled her in the bathroom of a home they previously shared.
Wade testified that he was the victim of domestic violence that day, saying his ex-wife attacked him and threw "something marble" at him. During that altercation, Wade testified he grabbed his ex-wife to subdue her, but she continued to attack him, swinging so wildly that she punched herself and got a bloody lip. Wade testified that he never struck her, contrary to his ex-wife's claims in court filings. Wade also denied abandoning his now ex-wife and children, verbally abusing them and endangering the boys' lives, as his ex-wife claimed in court papers.
Under questioning from his son's court-appointed attorney, Lester Barclay, Wade gave details about his relationship with his ex-wife, who was not in court Friday. The pair met in fourth grade, started dating in high school and married in college, when she had their oldest son.
Wade said Siohvaughn had always been controlling in their relationship, while he was more passive. When Wade was considering whether to enter the NBA draft after his second season at Marquette University, Siohvaughn even got into an argument with head coach Tom Crean -- who had told Wade to remain in college for another season.
Wade and his young wife already had their first child and were struggling financially. And Siohvaughn Wade had a confrontation with Crean because she was "very disappointed" and thought the university could do more for them financially, Dwyane Wade testified. While they were at Marquette, Siohvaughn also had slashed all four tires on Dwyane Wade's car, and she once put "homemade" bandages on her face that led to police asking Wade if he had beaten his wife, Wade testified.
Dwyane Wade also talked about the falling out he had with his mother-in-law -- who was like a mother to him when he was growing up in suburban Robbins -- when his relationship with Siohvaughn started to disintegrate. Wade said his ex-mother-in-law had written in an e-mail that she and her daughter were "going to take you for all your money." Siohvaughn Wade's attorney, Michael Haber, objected to the testimony and Judge Renee Goldfarb struck it from the record.
Wade, who was wearing a pinstriped suit with a red tie and black Louis Vuitton sneakers, said that the divorce and child custody cases have had a negative effect on his oldest son.
"It hurts to see him go through this. You don't ever want your kids to deal with any kind of parental problems. . . . You want to do everything you can to help the relationship so they can have the best life possible even if the parents aren't together," Dwyane Wade said. "As a father, it hurts to see them hurting."
While Dwyane Wade, who is recovering from a minor hamstring injury, was on the stand, some of his Miami Heat teammates, including Lebron James, sent him text messages asking how he was holding up under questioning.
Wade plans to spend time with his boys while he is in Chicago this week. Friday night, they will probably play basketball and watch movies, he said.
Dwyane Wade is expected back in court to answer more questions Monday.










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