Former No. 5 pick of the 2022 NBA draft, Jaden Ivey, was waived by the Chicago Bulls on Monday. The Bulls' decision came after Ivey's anti-LGBTQ comments via a lengthy video rant on social media. Ivey largely talked about religion and other subjects in the video before making remarks on the LGBTQ community.
The former guard for the Bulls attacked the NBA's celebration of Pride Month. According to him, the celebration is "unrighteous." The video from Ivey was posted on Monday, and it did not take long for the organization to release him.
Shortly after the Bulls' decision, Ivey reacted to the front office's move.
Jaden Ivey Questioned the Bulls' Decision
“They said your conduct has been detrimental to the team, I haven’t even been with the team because I have been rehabbing,” Ivey said.
“So how is my conduct detrimental to the team? Where have I done detriment? Did the players — did I say, ‘Man, you suck.’? Did I say ‘you suck’ to the players? That would be detrimental to the team, right?”
Things have not gone well for Ivey over the past two seasons. He appeared in 33 games for the Detroit Pistons, the team that drafted him, before they traded him to the Bulls ahead of the Feb. 5 deadline.
He appeared in four straight games for Chicago, averaging 11.5 points, 4.8 rebounds and 4.0 assists. He has not played a game since Feb. 19 due to persistent left knee soreness and was ruled out for the rest of the season. The former Purdue standout has been under rehab for the remainder of the campaign.
Ahead of the Bulls' game against the San Antonio Spurs, head coach Billy Donovan was asked about Ivey. According to Donovan, he had not seen the social media activity from the former Pistons guard. The head coach spoke highly of the team's practice of being professional, promoting accountability and responsibility among players, coaches and staff.
According to Donovan, his past interactions with Ivey were mostly about his knee injury.
“I hope for him, he’s okay,” Donovan said. “I don’t know… I’ve had conversations with Jaden and stuff. He’s been always about rehabbing his knee and trying to get back on the court and wanting to play.
“I think organizationally, there’s certain standards I think we want to have as an organization and live up to those each and every day.”
No one knows what's next for Ivey, since he's only a young guard who has shown promise in his early, four-year career.
