CHICAGO — The Chicago Bulls waived guard Jaden Ivey on Monday, ending his brief tenure with the team after a series of inflammatory social media posts. The front office cited “conduct detrimental to the team” as the reason for the 24-year-old’s sudden release. The move follows several Instagram Live sessions where Ivey used anti-LGBTQ language and criticized the NBA’s support of Pride Month, calling the league’s celebrations “unrighteous.”
Ivey didn’t just post; he sparked a fire that the Bulls organization wasn’t willing to fight. During a recent live stream, the former fifth-overall pick took direct aim at Golden State Warriors star Stephen Curry and the league’s marketing of Pride events. Ivey spent most of his short Chicago stay on the trainer’s table with a sore left knee, appearing in only four games after a February trade from the Detroit Pistons. On the court, he averaged a quiet 8.5 points per game this season, but his off-court activity became too loud for management to ignore.
The atmosphere at the Advocate Center felt heavy as news of the waiver broke. Fans who once saw Ivey as a high-upside project now find themselves debating the boundaries of player speech. While many criticized Ivey’s comments, he found a public ally in New England Patriots running back TreVeyon Henderson. Henderson, who has also been vocal about his faith since being drafted 38th overall in 2025, posted a scripture on X in support of the guard.
“We have people from all different walks of life in this building. You have to be professional. There has to be a high level of respect for one another, and we have to be accountable to those standards.”— Billy Donovan, Chicago Bulls Head Coach
This isn’t just about a post or a video. Ivey previously shared his struggles with depression, a factor Coach Billy Donovan acknowledged when discussing the need for better mental health resources. However, the Bulls are currently sliding toward their fourth straight losing season, and the front office decided that a distraction of this scale was untenable. The team is pivoting toward a total rebuild, and Ivey’s expiring contract made him an easy, albeit messy, cut.
The fallout leaves Ivey’s career in limbo. He claimed in a subsequent video recorded on a departing flight that teams would blackball him for his religious views. Whether or not that holds true, his production—37 total games played this year—doesn’t provide much leverage for a comeback. Chicago now moves forward without him, looking to find some semblance of identity in a season that has largely slipped away.
