NBA star Dwyane Wade may have just had the happiest Christmas ever as he recently proposed to his longtime girlfriend Gabrielle Union on December 21st and she said yes.

However, this nearly never happened due to the 31 year-old basketball player's reckless behaviour.

The Miami Heat guard has allegedly fathered a third child to an unknown women while on a temporary break from the Hollywood actress, Entertainment Tonight reports.

Union apparently knew this before accepting Wade's proposal and they dealt with these issues privately as a couple, but she did initially distance herself from Wade when hearing the news, E!News reports.

The NBA all-star knows the women he had the child with "for many year" and recently visited the new born baby.

Dwyane spoke to Jay Leno about his temporary split from the 'Bad Boys 2' actress this past September, citing work as the main cause.

"Celebrity relationships [are] very hard," he says. "This was a big year for us and our relationship from the standpoint of she was shooting her show Being Mary Jane, going most of the year. I was dealing with my injuries, trying to win a championship, so we kinda took a step back."

"We supported each other ... but at the end of the day we came back together and [said], 'Listen, we want to continue this, we want to continue to try to get better each day,' and she's been with me, and I've been with her all summer long. We're going strong now."

All problems aside the couple, who have been dating since 2009, seem happier than ever as Dwyane proposed to her with an impressive looking 8.5 carat diamond ring.

The 41 year-old actress posted a photo of the ring on Instagram with the caption reading, "Sooooo this happened... #Yessss."

"She said YES!!!" Wade tweeted.

Wade has never taken his parenting responsibilities as he has full custody of his two sons after a lengthy and volatile custody battle with ex-wife Siohvaughn Funches. He is also raising his nephew and released the New York Times bestselling book 'A Father First: How My Life Became Bigger than Basketball.'

Gabrielle Union
Union knew about the third child before accepting Wade's proposal