Chicago Bulls combo guard Jaden Ivey was released from the team in a controversial move after the player condemned celebrations centered on the LGBQT community. Speaking from a position of faith, Ivey called it the honoring of ‘unrighteousness.’
In a brief statement posted online, the Illinois-based franchise once home to Michael Jordan succinctly called his Christ-centered language ‘detrimental’ to the team. “The Chicago Bulls announced today that the team has waived guard Jaden Ivey for conduct detrimental to the team,” a graphic stated on X.
For context, Ivey was released by the Bulls after a recording of him seemingly sitting in a vehicle reacting to numerous sports franchises jumping on the woke bandwagon on National Day of Trans Visibility. Clubs have typically also embraced the entire month of June to celebrate the LGBT community, adopting rainbow logos and jerseys and such.
“The world can proclaim LGBTQ, right? They proclaim Pride Month and the NBA,” Ivey is seen saying in the recording. “They proclaim it. They show it to the world. They say come join us for for Pride Month. To celebrate unrighteousness. They proclaim it. 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 you, you man, this man is crazy.”
That short statement condemning LGBT celebrations – not the people, the celebrations – was enough to get the NBA veteran booted from the team. Shortly after, he released a second video blasting the Bulls for their cowardice of the woke mob, asking the obvious question of what exactly was detrimental to the team when his conduct on the court and locker room for years has been nothing but supportive and focused on the mission of winning.
“They said my conduct is detrimental to the team, right? Why didn’t they just say we don’t agree with his stance on LGBTQ? Why didn’t they say that? But how is it, how is it conduct detrimental to the team? What did I do to the team? What did I do to the players?” Ivey asks in the up-close video.
“I did nothing but practice with them, play with them. Pass the ball to them. Good teammate to them. Said, Good job, good shot. I said. I said, Good job, good job, good pass. Way to play. Bro, right? I said these things to my teammates was never detrimental to them,” he continued.
“So why is it that the NBA and the Chicago Bulls say that I’m detrimental to the team? How? Because I believe in the truth, because I know Jesus is the Way, the Truth and the Life. How is my conduct detrimental to the team because of what I believe, because of what the truth is?” his video ends.
Reacting online, some commentators noted that their could be grounds for a lawsuit based on the fact that the team appears to have called Ivey ‘mentally ill’ at one point in the process of releasing him. While unverified by the Christian Tribune, other notable social media accounts rallied to Ivey’s possible legal cause.
“If he’s mentally ill then it would be an ADA claim. Real or perceived disability. DOJ needs to take action as well,” wrote Mike Cernovich on X in response to a previous post from Douglass Mackey, which stated: “Not only did the Chicago Bulls cut Jaden Ivey for expressing his Christian belief, they also called him mentally ill. That sounds like a wrongful termination claim AND a defamation claim.”
Featured image: Alexander Jonesi, CC BY-SA 2.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0>, via Wikimedia Commons