After just four games with the Chicago Bulls, guard Jaden Ivey was waived on Monday evening, following a livestream railing against the NBA’s public shows of support for the LGBTQ+ community.
The Instagram Live session, which aired Monday morning ahead of the Bulls game against the San Antonio Spurs, was the third of its kind since Ivey was shut down on March 26 due to knee issues. In the previous livestreams, the 24-year-old guard spoke extensively about his religious beliefs — something he has not shied away from in recent press conferences related to his ongoing injuries. But this particular live cast featured pointed anti-LGBTQ+ rhetoric that proved to be too much for the storied basketball franchise.
“The world can proclaim LGBTQ, right?” Ivey said on Instagram Monday morning during the session that lasted over 40 minutes. “They proclaim Pride Month. And the NBA, they proclaim it. They show it to the world. They say, ‘Come join us for Pride, for Pride Month, to celebrate unrighteousness.’ They proclaim it. They proclaim it on the billboards. They proclaim it in the streets. Unrighteousness.”
During a press conference following news that Ivey had essentially been released from his short lived-contract with Chicago, Bulls coach Billy Donovan addressed the team’s decision to cut ties with 2022 number 5 draft pick.
“I think there’s a certain level of standards and expectations that are here,” Donovan said, according to The Athletic. “I mean, we have people from all different walks of life working in the building and players from all different walks of life, right? So, the first thing is, everybody comes with their own personal experiences. But one is, we’ve got to all be professional. I think there’s got to be a high level of respect for one another, and we got to help each other and then be accountable to those standards.”
Ivey entered the NBA in 2022 as a promising young player who was tapped by the Detroit Pistons to help rebuild their franchise. But in January 2025, he suffered a break to his left fibula that resulted in him appearing in just 30 games in the 2024-2025 season, followed by just 15 games in the current season.
After being picked up by the Bulls from the Pistons at the beginning of last month, ahead of the trade deadline, Ivey has struggled to find a place in Chicago amid limiting pain in his left knee and, according to ESPN, an increasingly “preachy” demeanor in the locker room. Ivey’s last appearance on the court for the Bulls was on February 11, and after missing out on a match against the Toronto Raptors on February 19, due to a DNP, the athlete hinted at growing frustration with the franchise and the NBA in a post-game interview where he once again invoked religious ideology.
“Coach [is] looking for players that help win… And Jesus is looking for those who worship him and spread in the truth. So I don’t really think that it affects me that much, as far as not playing,” Ivey said, according to The Athletic.
“I don’t really trust the NBA setting,” he added of his future with the league and approaching the summer as a restricted free agent, after failing to agree on contract terms with his new team. “I trust the Lord. That’s the main thing. He places me where I need to be.”
Following the Monday evening announcement from the Bulls, Ivey, who has previously spoken on social media about struggling with depression, once again went live on Instagram — addressing the controversy in a lengthy, frequently agitated monologue while boarding a plane.
“They said my conduct is detrimental to the team,” he said in the still-posted video stream, referring to the Bulls. “Why didn’t they just say, ‘We don’t agree with his stance on LGBTQ’? Why didn’t they say that? What 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?”
After labeling the Bulls management as “liars” who were targeting him for being outspoken about his religious beliefs — and calling out Warriors star Steph Curry and his family for being false Christians — he added, “All I’m preaching about is Jesus Christ and they waived me. They say I’m crazy, right? I’m psycho.”
