The Chicago Bulls have waived shooting guard Jaden Ivey after he made recent anti-LGBTQ comments, ESPN’s Shams Charania reported. The Bulls’ move comes after the Chicago Sun-Times’ Joe Cowley reported on Monday that the team was working on an exit strategy for Ivey.
Ivey had increasingly been posting on social media about his religious beliefs. The Bulls’ decision reportedly came after he criticized the NBA for celebrating Pride Month, which he called “unrighteousness.”
“The world proclaims 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.’ “
The Bulls move on from Ivey after acquiring him in February along with Mike Conley in a three-team trade that sent Kevin Huerter and center Dario Šarić and a future first-round pick swap to the Detroit Pistons and gave salary-cap relief to the Minnesota Timberwolves. Ivey and Conley are now both no longer with the Bulls, after the team moved on from Conley before he played for the team.
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Before his comments, Ivey struggled to find his place on the Bulls. Ivey played in four games and made three starts.
After what Ivey reportedly believed was his first career DNP, he told the Athletic’s Joel Lorenzi he was no longer the player he used to be after suffering a knee injury.
“I’m sure people can call it out — I’m not the same player I used to be,” he said. “[The knee soreness is] why. 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.”
Before Ivey was traded, he struggled to regain his play and athleticism from his early seasons with the Pistons, who took him with the fifth overall pick in the 2022 NBA Draft.
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This story will continue to be updated.