The Chicago Bulls waived guard Jaden Ivey on Monday, on claims that Ivey’s “conduct was detrimental to the team,” hours after he posted videos on Instagram criticizing the NBA for its promotion of Pride Month.
What began as a series of late-night Instagram livestreams in Chicago has since become a national conversation.
The Ivey Decision: Not Celebrating Pride Month… Detrimental to the Team?
Ivey posted at least three Instagram livestream videos in the days leading up to the waiver, with the final one posted Monday morning, per ESPN. In it, he called out the league’s agenda.
“The world proclaims LGBTQ, right?” Ivey said. “They proclaim Pride Month, and the NBA does too. They show it to the world. They say, ‘Come join us for Pride Month to celebrate unrighteousness.'”
“[The Bulls] said my conduct is detrimental to the team,” he added. “Why didn’t they just say, ‘We don’t agree with his stance on LGBTQ’? Why didn’t they say that? … How is it conduct detrimental to the team? What did I do to the team? What did I do to the players?”
— Chicago Bulls (@chicagobulls) March 30, 2026
In separate livestream sessions, Ivey’s comments extended to what may be considered other controversial topics for an NBA player – including depression, abortion, and anti-Catholicism.
The Bulls announced the choice to waive Ivey on Monday, citing conduct detrimental to the team, and before that evening’s game against the San Antonio Spurs, Bulls coach Billy Donovan addressed the decision to a packed media room.
“There’s a certain level of expectations and standards that are here,” Donovan said. “Everybody comes with their own personal experiences, right? But we have to all be professional, there has to be a high level of respect for one another, and we’ve got to help each other and be accountable to those standards.”
Ivey pushed back.
“They’re liars, bro,” he said on another following Instagram livestream. “They’re lying saying my conduct is detrimental to the team. That’s a lie. Ask any one of them coaches in there, ‘Was I a good teammate?'” He added, “They said my conduct is detrimental to the team. Why didn’t they just say, ‘We don’t agree with his stance on LGBTQ?’ … How is my conduct detrimental to the team because of what I believe? Because of what the truth is?”
Background on Ivey
Ivey, 24, was selected fifth overall by the Detroit Pistons in the 2022 NBA Draft and earned All-Rookie honors in his first season. He was in the middle of a booming career year when, on January 1, 2025, he broke the fibula in his left leg during a game against the Orlando Magic. He underwent surgery the following day and missed the remainder of that season.
Cleared for training camp in October 2025, Ivey ran into another new injury issue in his right knee, which required arthroscopic surgery and delayed his 2025–26 season debut until November. He struggled to regain his previous form, playing primarily off the bench for Detroit before the trade deadline.
The Bulls then acquired Ivey in February as part of a three-team trade involving the Pistons and the Minnesota Timberwolves. He played in just four games – making three starts – before being shut down for the season with another knee injury last Thursday, days before the waiver was announced.
He will now be a restricted free agent this offseason.
Did Mavericks Center Self-Censor Faith to Avoid Ivey’s Fate?
Hours after the waiver was announced, Dallas Mavericks center Daniel Gafford appeared at a post-game press conference wearing a shirt that read “Faith isn’t for the weak.” A reporter asked him to explain the message.
Gafford said he had not noticed what his shirt said until the question was raised. Gafford told reporters separately that the shirt was not related to the Ivey waiver.
“Faith isn’t for the weak because God gives his tests to his strongest soldiers,” Gafford said. “Most definitely, and I really can’t go deep into that, with the stuff that’s going on with the Ivey situation… We’re gonna keep it at that point.”
The exchange was captured on video by Mavericks reporter Noah Weber and shared on X, quickly racking up views and peanut gallery comments.
Shortly after, Professor and Pastor Denny Burk posted his interpretation of the clip, writing that Gafford had declined to discuss his faith because he simply did not want to be “kicked off his team.”
“Gafford says he’s not going to answer because he doesn’t want to get kicked off his team like Jaden Ivey. The NBA is sick,” Burk wrote.
Daniel Gafford plays for the Dallas Mavericks. He’s asked what the words on his shirt mean: “Faith isn’t for the weak.”
Gafford says he’s not going to answer because he doesn’t want to get kicked off his team like Jaden Ivey.
The NBA is sick.
pic.twitter.com/k80aiqBRCw— Denny Burk (@DennyBurk) March 31, 2026
Ivey: Changed Man, Alive in Christ
New England Patriots running back TreVeyon Henderson posted a passage from the Book of Matthew on social media alongside a video of Ivey, expressing public support for the former Bull and his faith.
“Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, For theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”
Matthew 5:10 https://t.co/CTpkaMx0oT— TreVeyon Henderson (@TreVeyonH4) March 31, 2026
Responses from active NBA players, however, have been pretty quiet.
The Bulls have not technically said whether Ivey’s actual religious beliefs – separate from how often or how strongly he posted on social media – played any role in the decision to waive him. Coach Donovan also added that the team had hoped he’d be part of their long-term future when they traded for him in February. “Obviously, it didn’t work out that way,” Donovan said. “Now we have to pivot and move to something else.”
Ivey has hinted on social media that teams in the future might be hesitant to sign him because of his open – and loud – expressions of faith. He told followers he feels like he’s being viewed as “too religious.”
“I’m not the J.I. I used to be. The old J.I. is dead,” Ivey said. “I’m alive in Christ no matter what the basketball setting is.”
