The Instagram Live session, which aired Monday morning before the Bulls’ game against the San Antonio Spurs, was the third of its kind since Ivey was suspended on March 26 due to knee problems. In previous livestreams, the 24-year-old guard spoke at length about his religious beliefs, something he hasn’t shied away from in recent press conferences related to his ongoing injuries. But this particular live cast featured anti-LGBTQ+ rhetoric that proved to be too much for the storied basketball franchise.
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“The world can proclaim LGBTQ, right?” Ivey said on Instagram Monday morning during the session that lasted more than 40 minutes. “They proclaim Pride Month. And the NBA proclaims it. They show it to the world. They say, ‘Join us in Pride Month, in Pride Month, to celebrate injustice.’ They proclaim it. They proclaim it on the signs. They proclaim it in the streets. Injustice.”
During a press conference following the news that Ivey had essentially been released from his short-term contract with Chicago, Bulls coach Billy Donovan addressed the team’s decision to cut ties with the No. 5 pick in the 2022 draft.
“I think there’s a certain level of standards and expectations here,” Donovan said, according The Athletic. “I mean, we have people from all walks of life working in the building and players from all walks of life, right? So the first thing is that everyone comes with their own personal experiences. But one is that we all have to be professional. I think there has to be a high level of mutual respect, and we have to help each other and then be held accountable to those standards.”
Ivey entered the NBA in 2022 as a promising young player who was drafted by the Detroit Pistons to help rebuild their franchise. But in January 2025 he suffered a broken left fibula that caused him to appear in only 30 games in the 2024-2025 season, followed by only 15 games in the current season.
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After being picked up by the Bulls from the Pistons early last month before the trade deadline, Ivey has struggled to find a place in Chicago amid limiting pain in his left knee and, according to ESPN, increasingly “preachy” behavior in the locker room. Ivey’s last on-court appearance for the Bulls was on February 11, and after missing a game against the Toronto Raptors on February 19 due to a DNP, the athlete hinted at growing frustration with the franchise and the NBA in a post-game interview where he once again invoked religious ideology.
“The coach looks for players to help him win… And Jesus looks for those who worship him and spread the truth. So I really don’t think it affects me that much, as far as not playing,” Ivey said, according to The Athletic.
“I don’t really trust the NBA environment,” he added of his future in the league and approaching the summer as a restricted free agent after failing to come to an agreement on contract terms with his new team. “I trust in the Lord. That’s the main thing. He puts me where I need to be.”
Following the Bulls’ announcement Monday night, Ivey, who previously spoke on social media about battling depression, once again spoke live on Instagram, addressing the controversy in a long and frequently agitated monologue while boarding a plane.
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“They said my behavior is detrimental to the team,” he said in the still-released video, referring to the Bulls. “Why didn’t they just say, ‘We don’t agree with your stance on LGBTQ’? Why didn’t they say that? Didn’t they say that? How is this behavior detrimental to the team? What did I do to the team? What did I do to the players?”
After labeling the Bulls’ management as “liars” who were attacking him for being outspoken about his religious beliefs, and calling out Warriors star Steph Curry and his family for being fake Christians, he added: “All I’m preaching is about Jesus Christ and they gave up on me. They say I’m crazy, right? I’m a psychopath.”
This article originally appeared on Out: Chicago Bulls waived guard Jaden Ivey after expressing anti-LGBTQ views