{"id":695243,"date":"2026-04-03T03:58:55","date_gmt":"2026-04-03T03:58:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/695243\/"},"modified":"2026-04-03T03:58:55","modified_gmt":"2026-04-03T03:58:55","slug":"the-chicago-bulls-wave-guard-who-criticized-lgbt-pride-month","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/695243\/","title":{"rendered":"The Chicago Bulls wave guard who criticized LGBT pride month"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Leonardo Blair<\/a>, Senior Reporter Tuesday, March 31, 2026\"Facebook\"<\/a>\"Twitter\"<\/a><\/p>\n

The Chicago Bulls NBA team waived outspoken Christian guard Jaden Ivey on Monday \u201cdue to conduct detrimental to the team\u201d after he called LGBT pride month a celebration of \u201cunrighteousness.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe world can proclaim LGBTQ, right?\u201d Ivey told his more than 200,000 followers in a livestream on Instagram<\/a> on Monday morning. \u201cThey proclaim pride month. And the NBA, they proclaim it. They show it to the world. They say, \u2018Come join us for pride month, to celebrate unrighteousness.\u2019 They proclaim it on the billboards. They proclaim it in the streets. Unrighteousness.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ivey, who was selected as the 5th overall pick by the Detroit Pistons in the 2022 NBA Draft, has been vocal about his faith<\/a> throughout his time in the league. Chicago traded for Ivey at February\u2019s trade deadline. He had a contract that expired at the end of the season.<\/p>\n

The waived guard only played four games for the Bulls before he was shut down last Thursday for the rest of the season by the team because of injury.\u00a0<\/p>\n

In a second video shared on Instagram<\/a> on Monday, Ivey challenged the claim that the profession of his faith values has been detrimental to the team.<\/p>\n

“[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?”<\/p>\n

Ivey, who previously shared<\/a> that he was sexually abused as a child, also called Bulls officials \u201cliars.\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u2019re lying saying my conduct is detrimental to the team. That\u2019s a lie. Ask any one of them coaches in there, \u2018Was I a good teammate?\u2019 All I\u2019m preaching about is Jesus Christ and they waived me. They say I\u2019m crazy, right? I\u2019m psycho,\u201d he said. \u00a0\u201cI didn\u2019t get myself waived. I was in the gym today. I was rehabbing, doing what was required of my job.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bulls coach Billy Donovan told The Associated Press<\/a> that the team has employees from \u201call different walks of life,\u201d and Ivey\u2019s comments do not reflect the values of the organization.<\/p>\n

\u201cEverybody comes with their own personal experiences, but one is we\u2019ve got to all be professional,\u201d Donovan said. \u201cI think there\u2019s got to be a high level of respect for one another, and we\u2019ve got to help each other and then be accountable to those standards.\u201d<\/p>\n

The waived player has received strong support from Christians who praised him for standing up for his faith.<\/p>\n

New England Patriots running back TreVeyon Henderson shared Matthew 5:10 in apparent support of Ivey.<\/p>\n

\u201cBlessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness\u2019 sake, For theirs is the kingdom of heaven,\u201d he noted on X,<\/a> citing the Scripture.<\/p>\n

Contact: leonardo.blair@christianpost.com<\/a> Follow Leonardo Blair on Twitter: @leoblair<\/a> Follow Leonardo Blair on Facebook: LeoBlairChristianPost<\/a><\/p>\n