Zaire Wade, the 24-year-old son of Miami Heat legend Dwyane Wade, faces a felony domestic violence charge stemming from a June arrest in Burbank, California.
The charge follows a chaotic pre-dawn police call last month that saw officers recover a handgun from the home and issue an emergency protective order for the woman involved.
Zaire Wade’s Reported Felony Charge
Wade faces one felony domestic violence count, according to a TMZ report. The charge is tied to a June 21 altercation with a woman he was dating, according to a criminal complaint filed Thursday in Los Angeles. He was booked on three separate counts at the time of his arrest — felony domestic violence, criminal threats and false imprisonment — but prosecutors moved forward with only the single charge.
Burbank police were called to the home around 5:30 a.m. on June 21 after someone reported a woman screaming, according to Dennis Broad of NBC Los Angeles. Officers arrived to find Wade and a woman with lacerations on her face and body, according to the reports. Paramedics evaluated her at the scene, but she was not taken to a hospital.
An emergency protective order was issued for the woman, who has not been publicly identified. Wade posted a $50,000 bond and was released from custody the same day. A Burbank police spokesperson previously said detectives would present the case “to the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office for filing considerations,” according to People.
Neighbors had also dialed 911 that morning to report loud screaming and stomping coming from inside the home, with one follow-up call specifically flagging a woman with facial lacerations, according to the TMZ report. Earlier rumors that Wade could face an attempted murder charge did not materialize, and Burbank police confirmed the three original booking counts were the only ones under consideration before Thursday’s single-count filing.
Dwyane Wade’s NBA Legacy and Zaire Wade’s Career
Dwyane Wade built one of the more decorated resumes in modern NBA history before his son was born into the spotlight that comes with it. Drafted fifth overall by the Heat out of Marquette in 2003, Wade won three championships across 16 seasons, took home Finals MVP in 2006 and made 13 All-Star teams. Miami retired his No. 3 jersey in 2020, and the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame inducted him in 2023, then inducted him again in 2025 as part of the gold medal-winning 2008 U.S. Olympic team. Since retiring, he has held minority ownership stakes in the Utah Jazz and the WNBA’s Chicago Sky.
Zaire Wade was born in Chicago and raised largely in Los Angeles. He played his final year of high school basketball at Sierra Canyon before skipping college entirely for pro basketball. The Salt Lake City Stars, then the G League affiliate of the Utah Jazz, selected him 10th overall in the 2021 NBA G League Draft, though a March 2022 injury cut his rookie season to just 12 games, in which he averaged 1.8 points. He later played in the Basketball Africa League with the Cape Town Tigers, then with the Macau Black Bears, and he currently is a free agent.
Neither Zaire Wade nor Dwyane Wade has issued a public statement on the reported felony charge. Zaire Wade is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty in a court of law, and no arraignment date had been publicly set as of Thursday.
Son of NBA Hall of Famer Dwyane Wade Charged With Serious Felony: Report