FORMER NBA star Dwyane Wade has opened up about how he felt when Mike Tyson challenged rapper Boosie Badazz over his comments about his daughter coming out as transgender.

Tyson addressed Boosie Badazz’s criticism of Wade and his wife, Gabrielle Union, over their acceptance and support of their daughter Zaya’s decision. Boosie Badazz, who made the comments after Zaya’s confirmed that she would use female pronouns, also misgendered her in posts on social media.

“What happened to you that you think that you’re somebody that can comment on somebody’s life?” Tyson said to Boosie Badazz during an episode of his podcast, Hotboxing with Mike Tyson in February.

The rapper responded by saying that he stood by what he said.

During an interview with Central Ave, Wade, 38, said it was great to hear Tyson speak out on the issue.

Discussing the incident, Wade said: “I actually talked to Mike about that earlier in the pandemic, we had a conversation. I appreciated it from the standpoint of Mike is someone who has never tried to be perfect.

“He is someone who has learned from this journey of life. He’s one of those people… he’s so smart, he’s so educated and knowledgeable about life. And for him to be able to drop that nugget on the world, to me, it was great to hear him say that.”

While Wade was supportive of Tyson calling out Boosie Badazz for his comments on Zaya’s decision and how he and Union had handled it, Wade explained that he takes a different approach those that disagree.

He said: “I understand that everyone has their own path and journey towards accepting things. I’ve never came out and said anything to anybody that feels a certain way about me or someone else in my family or my loved ones because they don’t know us, they don’t know our hearts, they definitely don’t know Zaya.

“All I do is what my mama say, just pray for them.”