The Chicago Bulls released guard Jaden Ivey on Monday after Ivey posted multiple videos on social media, calling out the NBA’s celebration of LGBT “unrighteousness” and speaking about his Christian faith.
Ivey, who is averaging over eight points per game this season, was dropped by the Bulls just a month after he arrived in Chicago due to a trade with the Detroit Pistons. In one video Ivey posted on Instagram on Monday, the guard ripped the NBA for celebrating LGBT “Pride” month.
“The world can proclaim LGBTQ, right?” Ivey said. “They proclaim ‘Pride Month’ in 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. They proclaim it on the billboards. They proclaim it on the streets. Unrighteousness.”
In another video that Ivey recorded while on an airplane, he called out NBA star Stephen Curry and questioned Curry’s Christian faith.
“He’s not even surrendered and y’all believe he’s a Christian. Y’all believe he’s a Christian because he wrote Philippians 4:13. Ya’ll think he’s a Christian, but he’s cursing just like the world. … He don’t know Jesus and I pray he comes to the truth,” Ivey said.
The Bulls announced on Monday afternoon that the team was releasing Ivey “due to conduct detrimental to the team.” Bulls head coach Billy Donovan told reporters shortly after the team’s decision that he didn’t want to get into details about Ivey’s social media posts. Donovan added that in his conversations with Ivey, the player has been focused on trying to rehab after suffering a knee injury and said the team hoped Ivey would be part of the roster for the “long term” after he was traded from Detroit.
“Organizationally, there’s certain standards I think we want to have as an organization and live up to those each and every day,” Donovan said, adding, “Everybody comes with their own personal experiences, right? But we have to all be professional, there has to be a high level of respect for one another, and we’ve got to help each other and be accountable to those standards.”
Ivey responded in another social media video after the Bulls dropped him.
“They said my conduct is detrimental to the team, right? Why didn’t they just say we don’t agree with his stance on LGBTQ? Why didn’t they say that?” Ivey asked. “How is it conduct detrimental to the team? What did I do to the team? What did I do to the players? I did nothing but practice with them, play with them, pass the ball to them, [be] a good teammate to them.”
“So why is it that the NBA and the Chicago Bulls say I’m detrimental to the team? How? Because I believe in the truth? Because I know Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life?” he added.
Some Christian athletes have come out in defense of Ivey after he was released by the Bulls. Patriots star running back TreVeyon Henderson reposted a clip of Ivey’s comments about gay “Pride” alongside a Bible verse from Matthew 5:10, which states, “Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, For theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”
Henderson’s coach, Mike Vrabel, was asked about the running back’s support for Ivey and told reporters that he wants players like Henderson to express what they believe, but added that he wants to “make sure that they’re educated.”
“We want to be inclusive. Everything we want to do, we want to provide an environment for people to feel comfortable, but also to share their personal beliefs. And also, we represent the team, and we represent the organization,” Vrabel added.
New York Jets cornerback Azareyeh Thomas also posted support for Ivey and his stance against LGBT “Pride” celebrations.
“The world will try to make sin look normal and righteousness look strange. Believer or not, every single person on earth will soon have an appointment before Jesus. So if living for Christ makes us look crazy or ‘weird,’ that’s okay because it isn’t strange to Christ. When it’s all said and done, we’ll give an account to an audience of One. (Romans 14:12, 2 Cor. 5:10),” Thomas wrote. “’Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness…’ Isaiah 5:20.”
Miami Dolphins long snapper Blake Ferguson also publicly backed Ivey after the Bulls player was released.
Former New Orleans Saints tight end and outspoken Christian Benjamin Watson said he expects the Bulls to clarify what exactly led to Ivey’s release.
“Conduct detrimental covers a host of actions. It’s a catch all term for everything from being late to curfew, to saying the wrong thing to the media, to fighting in the locker room. It allows clubs to discipline players without specifying certain actions. I expect the Bulls to clarify if it also includes using the term ‘unrighteousness.’ If so that’s an even bigger problem,” Watson said.
Ivey has recently become more outspoken about his Christian faith and has even opened up about his struggles with depression this season. After Ivey was kept on the bench for an entire month despite being healthy in February, the guard told reporters that because of his faith, he “wasn’t the same player as he used to be.”
“I’m not the J.I. I used to be. The old J.I. is dead,” Ivey said. “I’m alive in Christ no matter what the basketball setting is.”
Ivey also faced criticism for some of his responses to people who commented on his Instagram videos. In one instance, a person asked the NBA player about going to confession, and Ivey replied by writing, “Catholicism is a false religion. And is not the true Doctrine of Christ. [It] does not lead to salvation in Jesus Christ.”
Another person commented on Ivey’s video and wrote, “Sending prayers. Detroit misses you.” Ivey responded to that comment, writing, “God does not hear your Prayer if you are a sinner.”
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