This whole thing was messy and complicated and confusing from start to finish. It\u2019s hard to define what exactly that means for the future.<\/p>\n
Chicago Bulls waive Jaden Ivey following multiple social media tirades<\/a><\/p>\n<\/p>\n As a queer person covering this team, I was surprised by my emotional response to Monday\u2019s news cycle. Ivey\u2019s comments certainly were not the most heinous example of homophobia I\u2019ve heard in my life, but this was the first time I had encountered vocal discrimination in the workplace. It hurt, but not for long.<\/p>\n The Bulls moved more quickly than I ever expected. Ivey made his first comments in the late morning. Barely five hours later, the team publicly announced its decision to waive him for \u201cconduct detrimental to the team.\u201d This sentiment encompassed ownership\u2019s aversion to the totality of his comments, including his indictment of Catholicism and his aggressive condemnation of \u201csinners\u201d from every walk of life.<\/p>\n In a situation such as this, it\u2019s easy to feel tokenized or isolated as one of the sole members of the aggrieved identity in the room. But never once did I feel the need to advocate for my community or argue the severity of Ivey\u2019s comments. Every Bulls staffer I spoke with reiterated a deep empathy for the issue at hand. Coach Billy Donovan delivered a simple but firm rebuke in his pregame comments. It was a refreshing reassurance of the standards of acceptance and professionalism to which most rational people hold themselves in 2026.<\/p>\n This was a relief. It saved me from expending any additional energy or brainpower on my personal hurt and indignation \u2014 and left me free to fully examine the outright stupidity of the decision by executive vice president of basketball operations Art\u016bras Karni\u0161ovas to trade for Ivey<\/a>.<\/p>\n It might not seem as if the Bulls gave up much by waiving an injured player with 13 days left on his contract. Ivey managed to play only four games for the Bulls following his acquisition at the trade deadline before he was sidelined (and ultimately shut down<\/a>) for a lingering knee injury. In the overall scope of a season, his impact on the team was marginal at best.<\/p>\n But cutting Ivey meant the Bulls had to give up on their biggest swing of the trade deadline. It\u2019s easy to label this deal as \u201ctaking a flyer\u201d on a once-talented player who has struggled to recover from a major injury. That\u2019s not how the Bulls front office saw it. The Bulls mostly picked up throwaway, expiring deals at the deadline<\/a>, but that wasn\u2019t the case with Ivey. Karni\u0161ovas acquired Ivey with confidence that the Bulls were buying low on a front-row seat to the restricted free agency of a player who could make an impact on the team for years.<\/p>\n \u201cI think there was hope that he was going to be a guy that would be here long term,\u201d Donovan said. \u201cThat was the intention of doing the deal that got done. That was the impression I got from the front office. Obviously it didn\u2019t work out that way, but that was the intention. Now we have to pivot and move on to something else.\u201d<\/p>\n Sure, the Bulls didn\u2019t give up much in return \u2014 a player swap for Kevin Huerter, who was unlikely to return after his contract expires this summer. But until this weekend, Karni\u0161ovas was ready to invest another long-term contract in a still-hobbled player with glaring character concerns.<\/p>\n The fallout has been accompanied by a common refrain from NBA fans: There was no way to see this coming.<\/p>\n But that\u2019s simply not true. This was no secret or surprise.<\/p>\n The timeline for Ivey\u2019s descent into extreme evangelism is fairly easy to track. The guard was baptized at home in June 2024, affirming a new commitment to a born-again style of evangelical Christianity that prioritizes the concept of the \u201cGreat Commission\u201d for Christians to spread their religion. That baptism marked a turning point, after which Ivey became increasingly focused on using his platform to evangelize.<\/p>\n Religion \u2014 and, specifically, Christianity \u2014 is not a taboo topic in an NBA locker room. Teams provide chapel services. Players read the Bible before games and praise Jesus after them. It takes a remarkable level of extremity for a player\u2019s faith to become remotely notable in this type of environment; somehow, Ivey accomplished that feat.<\/p>\n Ivey\u2019s dependence on his faith deepened when he shattered his fibula in January 2025, a gruesome injury that required extensive recovery and threatened his NBA future. Only nine days after suffering that catastrophic injury, Ivey went on \u201cSports Spectrum\u201d \u2014 a podcast focused on the intersection of faith and sports \u2014 to talk about his religious journey.<\/p>\n In that interview, Ivey revealed that he \u201cdefinitely was sexually abused as a kid\u201d and grappled with addiction to alcohol before embracing his conception of Christianity. He also spoke about struggling with anger management in many aspects of his life, including his marriage.<\/p>\n \u201cBefore I married my wife, we had went through trials together,\u201d Ivey said on the podcast. \u201cI dealt with anger. She had to deal with a lot of anger that I had in my heart. That turned into me being somewhat an abuser. I\u2019m not saying that was it, but there was things that I tried to fill in my heart. I\u2019m so grateful for my wife because she\u2019s been there for me through thick and thin.\u201d<\/p>\n That was a year ago. Since then, Ivey became increasingly insistent on pushing his faith into his professional life. He lost the ability to provide basic answers to the media without redirecting the topic to religion. He pressed staffers and teammates with uncomfortable questions. All of this information was publicly accessible with a simple Google search or phone call to any individual who had access to the Detroit Pistons locker room.<\/p>\n This was not the first time Karni\u0161ovas took an unnecessary risk on a clearly troubled player. Last season, he signed Joshua Primo to an Exhibit 10 contract<\/a> to allow the guard the privilege of rehabbing with the Windy City Bulls. At that time, Primo was essentially out of the league after serving a suspension for exposing himself to female team staffers.<\/p>\n![\"Chicago](\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/CTC-L-bulls-nuggets001_259142194.jpg\")
Bulls guard Jaden Ivey (31) pulls down a rebound against the Nuggets on Feb. 7, 2026, at the United Center. (Chris Sweda\/Chicago Tribune)<\/p>\n![\"Chicago](\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/CTC-L-BULLS-RAPTORS009.jpg\")
Bulls guards Jaden Ivey (31) and Josh Giddey stand for the national anthem before a game against the Raptors on Feb. 19, 2026, at the United Center. (Josh Boland\/Chicago Tribune)<\/p>\n