SAN ANTONIO – The Chicago Bulls have waived the guard Jaden Ivey Monday in the wake of anti-LGBTQ comments and remarks about religion he made in videos on his Instagram account.
“They’re declaring Pride Month in the NBA,” he said. “They’re proclaiming it. They’re showing it to the world. They’re saying come join us for Pride, for Pride Month to celebrate injustice. They’re proclaiming it. They’re proclaiming it on the billboards. They’re proclaiming it in the streets. Injustice. So how come you can’t speak justice? How can they say this man is crazy?”
Coach Billy Donovan said the Bulls have employees from “all walks of life” and that Ivey’s comments do not reflect the organization’s values.
“Everyone has their own personal experiences, but one of them is that we all have to be professional,” Donovan said before Chicago’s game in San Antonio. “I think there has to be a high level of respect for each other, and we have to help each other and then be accountable to those standards.”
In an Instagram live on a plane, hours after the Bulls let him go, Ivey again spoke at length about religion. He said the championship rings that LeBron James and Michael Jordan earned “will not matter on judgment day.”
Evan Bernstein via Getty Images
He also insisted that he “didn’t get a waiver from myself” and that other teams wouldn’t sign him because they think “he’s too religious.” He said he was at the gym Monday recuperating and “doing what was expected of me in my job.”
At one point, a flight attendant asked him to end the session because the plane was about to take off and the cell phone could disrupt the communications systems. He continued talking about religion for about another minute before wrapping up.
Ivey has talked about dealing with depression this season. He recently started posting long videos expressing his thoughts on religion on Instagram.
“Why is it that people hate it when the gospel is preached?” Ivey said. “That people don’t want to hear it? And they think it’s strange when someone preaches the gospel, the true gospel?”
Chicago acquired Ivey from Detroit a three-team trade on February 3. He had an expiring contract.
The Bulls cut him for the rest of the season last week after being sidelined since February 11 with a painful left knee. He averaged 8.5 points in 37 games this season, including four for Chicago.
“I don’t want to get into what he put out there, but I certainly hope for his sake that he’s doing well,” Donovan said. “I’ve had conversations with Jaden and he’s always been about rehabbing his knee and trying to get on the field and wanting to play. But I think organizationally there are certain standards that we want to have as an organization and try to live up to those every day.”
