The Chicago Bulls have decided to waive Jaden Ivey, citing “conduct detrimental to the team,” in the aftermath of what seemed like a religious awakening for the 24-year-old.
Ivey was in the final season of his contract and hadn’t signed an extension. Hence, we may have seen the last of Jaden Ivey in an NBA uniform unless he signs with a new team in free agency.
This decision has come in the aftermath of his controversial take on the LGBTQ+ community, among several rants that he has recently been posting on social media.
“That the world can proclaim LGBTQ, right? They proclaim Pride Month—and the NBA does too. They show it to the world. They say, ‘Come join us for Pride Month, to celebrate unrighteousness,'” said Ivey in a video that went viral on social media.
“They proclaim it. They proclaim it on the billboards, they proclaim it on the streets, unrighteousness. So how is it that one cannot speak righteousness? How are they to say, ‘Man, this man is crazy.’?”
Within Jaden Ivey’s 45-minute rant posted on Instagram a short time ago, he takes aim at the NBA celebrating pride night:
“Join us for Pride Month to celebrate unrighteousness. They (NBA) proclaim it.”
Ivey will likely be fined from this. A truly unfortunate situation to watch. https://t.co/ZVSO8ga3K0 pic.twitter.com/YAVKC2vnLZ
— Evan Sidery (@esidery) March 30, 2026
The 24-year-old arrived in Chicago after being traded by the Pistons. The former top-five pick ended up averaging 14.8 points, 4.0 assists, and 3.5 rebounds over his career while shooting 43.0% from the field and 35.5% from beyond the arc.
Subsequently, Billy Donovan, the Bulls’ head coach, also made a statement about the team’s decision to waive Ivey.
“I think there’s a certain level of standards and expectations that are here. I mean, we have people from all different walks of life 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 thing is, we’ve got to all be professional. I think there’s got to be a high level of respect for one another, and we’ve got to help each other and then be accountable to those standards.”
“Whether or not I’m qualified, I try to help as much as I can to put people in front of them who can maybe help them with whatever they’re dealing with mentally. Because here’s the thing: if you’re not in a great place mentally, you’re not going to perform well.”
“Today’s players know how to eat, they know how to train, they know how to get in the cold tank or get massage therapy like an individual structure on and off the court. But how do we help them mentally, right?”
“I’m not saying any of them are, but I think in this day and age, you have to be conscious of all these guys may be going through things. And I’m not passing judgment on what Jaden is or is not going through,” Billy Donovan further added.
“But I do worry about that, not only for Jaden, but for all of our players. Are we providing the resources, which I think we do, to help them in any way we can? I think if any player reached out and said I need some help in this, we could help them.”
I am totally in support of a religious awakening and a player’s discretion to decide if he wants to step away from the game, as A.J. Griffin did in September 2024. But making comments on other people’s life choices and state of being is not acceptable, even for religious reasons.
Therefore, while the Bulls could have offered Ivey some help, waiving him for the sake of the rest of the team seems like the right decision. Even if the Bulls offered help, like Donovan claims he would, I highly doubt that Ivey would’ve accepted that. But this is probably an unfortunate end to Ivey’s NBA career at such a young age.
