The Chicago Bulls announced Monday that they have waived Jaden Ivey, citing “conduct detrimental to the team,” after the outspoken Christian player criticized LGBT Pride Month in a social media livestream.
During a broadcast on Instagram, Ivey addressed his followers, expressing his views on Pride Month and how it is promoted within professional basketball.
“The world can proclaim LGBTQ, right?” Ivey said in a livestream on Instagram on Monday morning. “They proclaim pride month. And the NBA, they proclaim it. They show it to the world. They say, ‘Come join us for pride month, to celebrate unrighteousness.’ They proclaim it on the billboards. They proclaim it in the streets. Unrighteousness.”
In a separate Instagram video posted Monday, Ivey pushed back against the team’s explanation for his release, questioning the characterization of his actions.
"[The Bulls] said my conduct is detrimental to the team," he said. "Why didn't they just say, 'We don't agree with his stance on LGBTQ'? Why didn't they say that? ... How is it conduct detrimental to the team? What did I do to the team? What did I do to the players?"
“They’re lying saying my conduct is detrimental to the team. That’s a lie. Ask any one of them coaches in there, ‘Was I a good teammate?’ All I’m preaching about is Jesus Christ and they waived me. They say I’m crazy, right? I’m psycho,” he said. “I didn’t get myself waived. I was in the gym today. I was rehabbing, doing what was required of my job.”
Ivey, who was selected fifth overall by the Detroit Pistons in the 2022 NBA Draft, has consistently spoken about his Christian faith during his professional career.
He was acquired by Chicago at the February trade deadline and appeared in only four games before being ruled out for the rest of the season last Thursday due to injury, while playing on a contract set to expire at season’s end.
