Dwyane Wade is "always scared" as a parent.

Gabrielle Union and Dwyane Wade

Gabrielle Union and Dwyane Wade

The basketball player - who has Zaya, 12, and Zaire, 18, with his ex-wife Siohvaughn Funches, as well as six-year-old Xavier with Aja Metoyer, and 15-month-old Kaavia with spouse Gabrielle Union - admits he is very nervous as a dad but is "scared in a different way" now his eldest kid in 18-years-old.

Speaking to People magazine, he said: "I'm scared in a different way now. Now he's 18 and I'm like, 'He's about to go to college' - I'm even more scared. When a kid is born, they don't come out with a pamphlet that's like, 'Okay, these are the directions for this kid.' So you just figure it out and try to help raise someone who's good and kind, and just characteristics that you want your kids to hopefully have. And that's in you already. You're afraid because you don't want to mess up; you don't want anything to happen to them. But I think, ultimately, we all have it inside of us to help lead someone, whether that's your kids, godson or goddaughter, niece or nephew, coworker - we all have it in us to lead. It's no different when you have a kid."

Meanwhile, Dwyane previously revealed he hopes his daughter's decision to come out as transgender will help other families.

The NBA superstar said: "I struggled on how much I wanted to talk about it in the doc. I actually didn't talk about it a lot, but I knew if I put it in the doc at all, it would be a big conversation ...

"We struggled with what people would say about a 12 year old making a decision about her life. But we also know our child. We've been through so many different things that other people and other families go through and they thank us for speaking out on it. That's what we're trying to do. We know there are other families out there dealing with their kid finding themselves and learning who they are."