Chicago Bulls waive Jaden Ivey after anti-LGBTQ comments, religious rants

The Chicago Bulls have waived guard Jaden Ivey following his recent anti-LGBTQ comments, per ESPN’s Shams Charania. Ivey recently posted a 45-minute video on Instagram where he took aim at the NBA’s support of Pride Month.

“The world proclaims LGBTQ, right?” he asked. “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.’ They proclaim it on the billboards. They proclaim it in the streets. Unrighteousness. So how is it that that one can’t speak righteousness? How are they to say that you, this man is crazy? To the Christian, you’re making the wrong statements. How is it that you can tell the man that he can’t speak the truth?”

The video went viral, and it didn’t take long for the Bulls to act.

Ivey finishes his stint with the Bulls with four games played (three starts) where he averaged 11.5 points, 4.8 rebounds and 4.0 assists. Ivey was traded to Chicago from the Detroit Pistons after three and a half seasons there.

After such controversial comments, it’s unclear where his NBA future stands. Ivey, who is the son of Notre Dame women’s basketball coach Niele Ivey, played his college basketball at Purdue. Ivey spent two seasons in college before turning pro before the 2022-23 season.

Ivey was the fifth overall selection for the Pistons during the 2022 NBA Draft. He averaged at least 15.3 points per game in each of his first three seasons before dropping that average to 8.2 points per game this season.

Despite being a starter for most of his first three seasons, Ivey would start two of his 33 games for the Pistons before the trade deadline. Now, his stint with the Bulls is over before it really got started.

As for the Bulls, they’re sitting at 29-45 this season and have already been eliminated from playoff contention. They’re set to take on Victor Wembanyama and the Spurs on the road on Monday night.