The Chicago Bulls have waived guard Jaden Ivey for “conduct detrimental to the team” after he posted a lengthy social media video rant expressing anti-gay sentiments, including opposition to Pride Month.
The Bulls acquired the 24-year-old Purdue alum, the fifth overall pick in the 2022 draft, from the Detroit Pistons before last month’s trade deadline. He averaged 15.8 points, 3.7 rebounds, and 4.5 assists across 151 of 164 games to start his career, but knee issues limited him to 30 games last season and sidelined him for the first 15 games this year.
Ivey appeared in only four games for the Bulls this season and last played on February 11, before the All-Star break. On February 19, Ivey did not play in the Bulls’ game against the Toronto Raptors because of a coach’s decision — the first time he had been a “healthy scratch” in his career. After the game that night, he told reporters, “I’m not the J.I. I used to be. The old J.I. is dead. I’m alive in Christ no matter what the basketball setting is.”
Ivey had been outspoken about his religious beliefs while playing for the Pistons, but the intensity reportedly increased in Chicago, with team staff describing him as “preachy” in the locker room.
The team announced March 26 that Ivey would be shut down for the season with a sore left knee.
In the days that followed, Ivey went live on Instagram multiple times, posting at least three lengthy videos.
In a Monday morning Instagram video, Ivey called out the NBA for promoting Pride Month, claiming it celebrates “unrighteousness.”
“The world proclaims LGBTQ, right?” Ivey said. “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 on the streets. Unrighteousness.”
Soon after, the Bulls posted a brief statement on social media announcing that Ivey was being waived.
In another livestream Monday evening, Ivey took issue with the team’s decision.
“[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?”
Ivey also attacked high-profile Christian athletes like Stephen Curry for declining to oppose NBA directives he claims conflict with their religious beliefs, and took aim at LeBron James and Michael Jordan, saying their championship rings are “not gonna matter on judgment day.”
Bulls coach Billy Donovan said before the team’s March 30 game against the San Antonio Spurs that the organization had hoped Ivey would be part of its long-term future. Because he did not reach a contract extension with Detroit last summer, he will enter free agency this offseason.
“There’s a certain level of expectations and standards that are here,” Donovan told reporters. “Everybody comes with their own personal experiences, right? But we have to all be professional, there has to be a high level of respect for one another, and we’ve got to help each other and be accountable to those standards.”
Donovan later added: “I don’t want to get into what [Ivey] put out there, but certainly, I hope for him he’s okay. I’ve had conversations with Jaden, and he’s always been about rehabbing his knee and trying to get on the court and wanting to play. But I think organizationally, there are certain standards we want to have as an organization and try to live up to those each and every day.”
Actor Shia LaBeouf says his arrest following a violent outburst -- in which he allegedly assaulted bar patrons and shouted homophobic slurs -- stemmed from his fear of "big gay people."
Speaking with YouTuber Andrew Callaghan for the online outlet Channel 5, the 39-year-old Transformers star claimed that three gay men were touching him and intruding on his personal space.
"When I'm standing by myself and three gays are next to me touching my leg, I get scared," LaBeouf said. "I'm sorry. If that's homophobic, then I'm that. Yeah."
A 16-year-old boy testified at a congressional hearing that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents choked him and called him "gay" for crying while they arrested his father
Arnoldo Bazán, a U.S. citizen from Houston, testified at a bicameral forum convened by Democratic U.S. Rep. Robert Garcia (D-Calif.) and Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) examining alleged escalation of violence by ICE agents and agency policies that Democrats say disregard constitutional rights and harm children.
Bazán was one of several teenagers who testified at the forum, which also highlighted cases of U.S. citizens separated from their children after being mistaken for undocumented immigrants.
Two men in Kenya have been sentenced to 15 years in prison for attacking and robbing two gay men -- a rare instance of accountability in a country where homosexuality remains criminalized.
The defendants -- referred to in court proceedings as "Abel Meli & Another" -- were sentenced on a charge of robbery with violence on March 3 at the Milimani Law Courts in Kenya's capital, Nairobi.
The attack occurred in April 2023, when the victims -- identified by the British newspaper The Guardian using the pseudonyms Eric Anyango and Joe Ochieng, both in their mid-20s -- arranged to meet a man with whom Ochieng had been communicating on Facebook. Shortly after arriving at the man's home, three other men appeared and began attacking them.
These are challenging times for news organizations. And yet it’s crucial we stay active and provide vital resources and information to both our local readers and the world. So won’t you please take a moment and consider supporting Metro Weekly with a membership? For as little as $5 a month, you can help ensure Metro Weekly magazine and MetroWeekly.com remain free, viable resources as we provide the best, most diverse, culturally-resonant LGBTQ coverage in both the D.C. region and around the world. Memberships come with exclusive perks and discounts, your own personal digital delivery of each week’s magazine (and an archive), access to our Member's Lounge when it launches this fall, and exclusive members-only items like Metro Weekly Membership Mugs and Tote Bags! Check out all our membership levels here and please join us today!
The Chicago Bulls have waived guard Jaden Ivey for “conduct detrimental to the team” after he posted a lengthy social media video rant expressing anti-gay sentiments, including opposition to Pride Month.
The Bulls acquired the 24-year-old Purdue alum, the fifth overall pick in the 2022 draft, from the Detroit Pistons before last month’s trade deadline. He averaged 15.8 points, 3.7 rebounds, and 4.5 assists across 151 of 164 games to start his career, but knee issues limited him to 30 games last season and sidelined him for the first 15 games this year.
Ivey appeared in only four games for the Bulls this season and last played on February 11, before the All-Star break. On February 19, Ivey did not play in the Bulls’ game against the Toronto Raptors because of a coach’s decision — the first time he had been a “healthy scratch” in his career. After the game that night, he told reporters, “I’m not the J.I. I used to be. The old J.I. is dead. I’m alive in Christ no matter what the basketball setting is.”
Ivey had been outspoken about his religious beliefs while playing for the Pistons, but the intensity reportedly increased in Chicago, with team staff describing him as “preachy” in the locker room.
The team announced March 26 that Ivey would be shut down for the season with a sore left knee.
In the days that followed, Ivey went live on Instagram multiple times, posting at least three lengthy videos.
In a Monday morning Instagram video, Ivey called out the NBA for promoting Pride Month, claiming it celebrates “unrighteousness.”
“The world proclaims LGBTQ, right?” Ivey said. “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 on the streets. Unrighteousness.”
Soon after, the Bulls posted a brief statement on social media announcing that Ivey was being waived.
In another livestream Monday evening, Ivey took issue with the team’s decision.
“[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?”
Ivey also attacked high-profile Christian athletes like Stephen Curry for declining to oppose NBA directives he claims conflict with their religious beliefs, and took aim at LeBron James and Michael Jordan, saying their championship rings are “not gonna matter on judgment day.”
Bulls coach Billy Donovan said before the team’s March 30 game against the San Antonio Spurs that the organization had hoped Ivey would be part of its long-term future. Because he did not reach a contract extension with Detroit last summer, he will enter free agency this offseason.
“There’s a certain level of expectations and standards that are here,” Donovan told reporters. “Everybody comes with their own personal experiences, right? But we have to all be professional, there has to be a high level of respect for one another, and we’ve got to help each other and be accountable to those standards.”
Donovan later added: “I don’t want to get into what [Ivey] put out there, but certainly, I hope for him he’s okay. I’ve had conversations with Jaden, and he’s always been about rehabbing his knee and trying to get on the court and wanting to play. But I think organizationally, there are certain standards we want to have as an organization and try to live up to those each and every day.”
More from Metro Weekly: