The woke NBA, which has for years proclaimed black lives matter and that it stands for the oppressed and marginalized communities such as those falling in the LGBT camp, has made it abundantly clear that freedom of expression, speech, and religion do not apply to Christian players.
The latest such example comes from Dallas Mavericks player Daniel Gafford, who sported a shirt saying ‘Faith Isn’t For The Weak’ at a press conference in the days following leaguemate and former Chicago Bulls player Jaden Ivey, who was released from the team almost immediately after a video showed him denouncing the league’s constant focus on the transgender community and pride events.
While the shirt was no doubt worn in solidarity, when asked by a reporter to expand on his thoughts, Gafford immediately shut down, even explicitly saying he wasn’t comfortable voicing his faith out of fear of being waived.
“I mean, it’s a fashion note,” Gafford began in response to the question. “I didn’t really even see what it had said until you just said something about it. But, I mean, you know, faith isn’t for the weak, because God gives His test to the strongest soldiers, most definitely.”
Continuing past that point, he self-censored and refused to take it any further, noting that any additional comments on his Christian beliefs would be grounds for termination. “And you know, I really can’t really kind of go deep into that, you know, with the stuff that’s kind of going on with, you know, in the Ivey situation, I don’t want to, you know, get waived or anything, so we’re gonna keep it at that point.”
For context, Gafford was referencing the release of combo guard Jaden Ivey from the Bulls franchise after he condemned pride celebrations by the woke league as a celebration of ‘unrighteousness.’ Following the virality of his statements, the cowardly franchise declared he had been released due to ‘conduct detrimental to the team,’ though it did not elaborate on what that specific conduct actually was or how it was in any way detrimental.
In his own defense, Ivey later explained that he had been nothing but a good teammate on and off the court, and insinuated players did not have any issue whatsoever with his comments. “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 began in the first published video following his shocking release.
He added that all of his actions – not his words, but his actions – were only positive and uplifting. “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?” he finished as the video concluded.