A day after being waived by the Chicago Bulls for what the franchise called \u201cconduct detrimental to the team,\u201d guard Jaden Ivey said his thoughts turned dark as he struggled with devastating injuries last year, in a livestreamed conversation in which he also discussed his recent family issues and the Bulls\u2019 medical evaluation.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve almost committed suicide multiple times,\u201d Ivey said Tuesday evening during an interview with the \u201cPinPoint Podcast,\u201d hosted by Kerrigan Skelly, a self-described evangelist with nearly 100,000 YouTube subscribers. \u201cAnd I\u2019m not ashamed to say it. I\u2019m not ashamed because God was merciful to keep me here.<\/p>\n
\u201cI had (oxycodone) pills in my hand. And my wife was telling me, \u2018Don\u2019t do this. Don\u2019t go down this road.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
Earlier Tuesday during another livestream on Instagram, Ivey said his wife and family have recently stopped communicating with him.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s why my wife in here, and she not even texting me,\u201d Ivey said on Instagram. He also said, \u201cThose who are around me, those who are my family members betraying (me) because of what I spoke. The truth. Betraying me. Saying that I\u2019m losing my mind. Saying that I\u2019m crazy. \u2026 Those are my own household. All because of the Gospel. All because I said the truth.\u201d<\/p>\n
He said those suicidal thoughts came after breaking his fibula Jan. 1, 2025, when he was with the Detroit Pistons. The 24-year-old said it was the first major injury of his basketball career.<\/p>\n
\u201cI get surgery, I\u2019m rehabbing, right?\u201d Ivey said. \u201cAnd I\u2019m under this false doctrine of once saved, always saved. That you\u2019re righteous, but it doesn\u2019t matter if you sin, it can\u2019t touch your soul.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd so I still, I still had no peace, and I went back and \u2026 during that time, I had my two children, and I was back in the world, back in the world again, trying to figure out what, what, what is the truth?\u201d<\/p>\n
Ivey, whose season was shut down Thursday while he manages left knee pain, has gone live on Instagram several times since the Bulls announced the news last week, delivering inflammatory comments about a variety of topics, including calling Catholicism \u201ca false religion.\u201d In his livestream Monday morning, he called the NBA\u2019s advocacy for the LGBTQ+ community \u201cunrighteous.\u201d He was waived later that day.<\/p>\n
Since being waived, he\u2019s publicly criticized the personal and spiritual lives of NBA stars such as Golden State Warriors guard Stephen Curry, Los Angeles Lakers forward LeBron James and Minnesota Timberwolves guard Anthony Edwards.<\/p>\n
On Tuesday, he referenced an incident with Edwards from 2022, in which the Wolves guard posted a video to social media with homophobic comments. Edwards was later fined $40,000 by the NBA.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe said those things, right, and they fined him for it,\u201d Ivey said. \u201cAnd so how is it that he said something detrimental and basically hypocritical judgment. \u2026 He got fined. He didn\u2019t get kicked out the league. He didn\u2019t get waived, right? But it\u2019s because he\u2019s the best player on their team, right? They need him, right? He makes them money, right?<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s all money involved into that. That\u2019s why he\u2019s still playing.\u201d<\/p>\n
As Tuesday\u2019s livestream interview continued, Ivey was asked about the possibility of continuing his basketball career, which appears to be at an impasse. Earlier in the day, it was announced that Ivey will receive his full $10.1 million salary for the 2025-26 season.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf that opportunity came, it doesn\u2019t matter if it\u2019s in the NBA,\u201d Ivey said. \u201cIt doesn\u2019t matter if it\u2019s \u2014 I know they don\u2019t have it \u2014 but if it\u2019s the CBA, if it\u2019s overseas. It doesn\u2019t matter. It could be the African league.\u201d<\/p>\n
Despite the Bulls saying Ivey was released for conduct detrimental to the team, Ivey rebutted the notion.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was a good teammate to those around me,\u201d Ivey said. \u201cI made the right plays. I did exactly what the coach asked me to do on a daily basis. Whatever was needed, whatever was required of me to do, I was willing.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd so my conduct was not detrimental to the team. It\u2019s strictly because I spoke the truth of the word of God and was preaching the Gospel.\u201d<\/p>\n
After being traded from Detroit, Ivey played only four games with the Bulls, who sat him to allow him to rehab his surgically repaired left knee to build strength. Ivey said the Bulls thought he was playing hurt, but he said it was how he had been playing all season with the Pistons.<\/p>\n
Ivey said he rehabbed his knee for two weeks, but the Bulls pushed back his timetable. Then, in one practice with the team, he banged knees with forward Leonard Miller, and his left knee later swelled up before the swelling subsided.<\/p>\n
\u201cI said, \u2018I\u2019m ready. Jesus healed my knee,’\u201d Ivey said.<\/p>\n
Ivey said he offered to fly himself to Philadelphia for the team\u2019s March 25 game. Instead, he got an MRI, and the team shut him down for the season March 26.<\/p>\n
Four days later, the Bulls waived him after his series of online diatribes.<\/p>\n
If you or someone you know is having thoughts of suicide, call or text 988 for the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline, or contact the Crisis Text Line by texting HOME to 741741.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A day after being waived by the Chicago Bulls for what the franchise called \u201cconduct detrimental to the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":691604,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3771],"tags":[7,920,919,329,3824,188,6],"class_list":{"0":"post-691603","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-chicago-bulls","8":"tag-basketball","9":"tag-bulls","10":"tag-chicago","11":"tag-chicago-bulls","12":"tag-chicagobulls","13":"tag-detroit-pistons","14":"tag-nba"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nba\/116328789741282166","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/691603","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=691603"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/691603\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/691604"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=691603"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=691603"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=691603"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}