Jaden Ivey Kicked Off Bulls For Anti-LGBTQ Comments & Ignites Debate

Jaden Ivey is finding out the hard way that the NBA does have consequences for acting out, but he doesn’t seem too worried.

The Chicago Bulls guard has been waived after a 42-minute Instagram rant that saw him making hateful comments about the LGBTQ+ community in the name of religion.

“Blessed morning. The world can proclaim LGBTQ, right?” he began. “They proclaim Pride Month and the NBA. They proclaim it. They show it to the world. They say, ‘Come join us for Pride Month to celebrate unrighteousness.’ They proclaim it.”

He continued, “They proclaim it on the billboards. They proclaim it in the streets. Unrighteousness. So how is it that one can’t speak righteousness? How are they to say that … this man is crazy?”

The religious rants have become a habit for Ivey lately, who was shut down for the season on March 24 because of a lingering knee injury. And now he’s been shut down completely, with the franchise deciding he’s no longer suitable to be on the roster because of “conduct detrimental to the team.”

Ivey didn’t shut down his critiques after losing his job; he doubled down by responding to the Bulls’ statement.

“They say my conduct is detrimental to the league. Why not just say they don’t agree with my stance on LGBTQ? How is my conduct detrimental to the team? What did I do to the team? What did I do to the players? I did nothing but practice with them. Play with them. How can the NBA and Chicago say these things, because of what I believe, because Jesus is the way, the truth, and the light.”

He adds, “How is my conduct detrimental to the team? Because of what I believe? Because of what the truth is?”

Ivey didn’t just aim at the LGBTQ+ community but at some NBA greats too, saying Steph Curry has “not surrendered.”

“And y’all believe he’s a Christian?’ Ivey asked. “This stuff is not gonna matter on Judgment Day, all them rings he got, all them rings LeBron got, all the rings Michael Jordan got.”

Ivey hasn’t had a great year on the court either, averaging career lows of 8.5 points, 2.5 rebounds, and 1.8 assists over 37 games this year.

In the 2024-25 season, he played only 30 games due to a broken fibula, then underwent arthroscopic knee surgery on his right knee in October and missed the beginning of the season. In October, that forced him to miss the Pistons’ first 15 games before getting traded to the Bulls in February.

NBA players have been accused of some pretty serious things, like countless domestic abuse allegations, assault, and named gambling scandals, but they haven’t been kicked off their team.

See how social media is reacting to Ivey’s situation below.