{"id":693707,"date":"2026-04-02T11:03:42","date_gmt":"2026-04-02T11:03:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/693707\/"},"modified":"2026-04-02T11:03:42","modified_gmt":"2026-04-02T11:03:42","slug":"jaden-ivey-waived-by-chicago-bulls-for-anti-gay-remarks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/693707\/","title":{"rendered":"Jaden Ivey waived by Chicago Bulls for anti-gay remarks"},"content":{"rendered":"

After just four games with the Chicago Bulls, guard Jaden Ivey was waived on Monday evening, following a livestream railing against the NBA\u2019s public shows of support<\/a> for the LGBTQ<\/a>+ community. <\/p>\n

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 \u2014 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<\/a> franchise. <\/p>\n

\u201cThe world can proclaim LGBTQ, right?\u201d Ivey said on Instagram Monday morning during the session that lasted over 40 minutes. \u201cThey proclaim Pride Month. And the NBA, they proclaim it. They show it to the world. They say, \u2018Come join us for Pride, for Pride Month, to celebrate unrighteousness.\u2019 They proclaim it. They proclaim it on the billboards. They proclaim it in the streets. Unrighteousness.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\u2019s decision to cut ties with 2022 number 5 draft pick.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think there\u2019s a certain level of standards and expectations that are here,\u201d Donovan said, according to The Athletic<\/a>. \u201cI mean, we have people from all different walks of life<\/a> 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\u2019ve got to all be professional. I think there\u2019s 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.\u201d<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

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<\/a>, an increasingly \u201cpreachy\u201d demeanor in the locker room. Ivey\u2019s 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. <\/p>\n

\u201cCoach [is] looking for players that help win\u2026 And Jesus is looking for those who worship him and spread in the truth. So I don\u2019t really think that it affects me that much, as far as not playing,\u201d Ivey said, according to The Athletic.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t really trust the NBA setting,\u201d 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. \u201cI trust the Lord. That\u2019s the main thing. He places me where I need to be.\u201d<\/p>\n

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 \u2014 addressing the controversy in a lengthy, frequently agitated monologue while boarding a plane. <\/p>\n

\u201cThey said my conduct is detrimental to the team,\u201d he said in the still-posted video stream, referring to the Bulls. \u201cWhy didn\u2019t they just say, \u2018We don\u2019t agree with his stance on LGBTQ\u2019? Why didn\u2019t they say that? What didn\u2019t 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?\u201d<\/p>\n

After labeling the Bulls management as \u201cliars\u201d who were targeting him for being outspoken about his religious beliefs \u2014 and calling out Warriors star Steph Curry and his family for being false Christians \u2014 he added, \u201cAll I\u2019m preaching about is Jesus Christ and they waived me. They say I\u2019m crazy, right? I\u2019m psycho.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"After just four games with the Chicago Bulls, guard Jaden Ivey was waived on Monday evening, following a…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":693708,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3771],"tags":[7,920,919,329,3824,1018,6,17680],"class_list":{"0":"post-693707","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-jaden-ivey","14":"tag-nba","15":"tag-pride-month"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nba\/116334782241734584","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/693707","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=693707"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/693707\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/693708"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=693707"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=693707"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=693707"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}