Former NBA Star Sends 4-Word Note After Jaden Ivey Release

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Jaden Ivey #23 of the Chicago Bulls drives to the basket against Nikola Jokic #15 of the Denver Nuggets during the first quarter at the United Center on February 07, 2026 in Chicago, Illinois.

Retired NBA player Evan Turner has urged fans to “pray” for Jaden Ivey after the fourth-year guard was released by the Chicago Bulls on Monday.

“Pray for Jaden Ivey,” Turner wrote on X after news broke that the Bulls were waiving Ivey for “conduct detrimental to the team” on Monday.

When one user clapped back, suggesting that Ivey was “close to Jesus Christ” and didn’t need anyone praying for him, Turner doubled down on his earlier take.

“I’m praying for him for understanding and that god continues to protect his journey.”

Bulls Waive Jaden Ivey

Shortly before the Bulls released Ivey, the former No. 5 overall pick made some inflammatory remarks about the LGBTQ community in an IG live session. Ivey also called out the NBA for celebrating Pride Month.

“The world proclaims LGBTQ, right? They proclaim Pride Month—and the NBA does too. They show it to the world, and say, ‘Come join us for Pride Month, to celebrate unrighteousness,’” Ivey said during a live stream on Monday, via NBA Central.

Earlier on Sunday, Ivey released an IG Live video in which he spoke at length about salvation, his past sins, and the insignificance of basketball.

“Y’all don’t take the word of God seriously,” Ivey said.

“…The Lord is not going to say on Judgment Day, ‘What’s the updated score? What’s the score of Purdue Boilermakers? What’s the score of the Detroit Pistons? Jesus is not going to say that on Judgment Day.

“He’s going to say, ‘What did you do for my Kingdom?’”

Bulls HC Billy Donovan Reacts

After the Bulls waived him, Ivey said that his earlier conduct “was not detrimental” to the organization and that he was waived unfairly.

“They said your conduct has been detrimental to the team… I haven’t even been with the team because I’ve been rehabbing,” Ivey said. “So how is my conduct detrimental to the team? What have I done to detriment? Did I say “you suck” (to the players)?

“That would be detrimental to the team if I’m saying the players suck. We supposed to be teammates. We’re supposed to be on the same team, right? We’re supposed to be passing to each other, right?”

Elsewhere, Bulls head coach Billy Donovan also weighed in on the controversy.

“I know some of the things that were put out there,” Donvoan said.

“I think it’s a situation for him where it’s on his own personal Instagram, and I don’t want to get into what he put out there, but certainly, I hope for him, he’s okay.

“Organizationally, there’s certain standards I think we want to have as an organization and live up to those each and every day.”

Sai Mohan covers the NBA for Heavy.com. Based in Portugal, Sai is a seasoned sports writer with nearly two decades of publishing experience, including bylines at Yardbarker, FanSided’s Hoops Habit, International Business Times, Hindustan Times and more. More about Sai Mohan