Chicago Bulls Waived Jaden Ivey Hours After He Asked One Question About the NBA

The NBA plasters one message every year on billboards, every court, across every broadcast – and dares anyone to say a word.

Jaden Ivey said a word.

The Chicago Bulls waived him within hours – and what they did next is exactly what you'd expect from a league that lectures America about tolerance.

The Question Adam Silver Couldn't Answer

Ivey went live on Instagram Monday morning and asked the question every Christian in this country already knows the answer to.

"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.' They proclaim it on the billboards. They proclaim it in the streets. Unrighteousness. So how is it that one can't speak righteousness?"

That was enough.

By 5 p.m., the Bulls released one sentence: Jaden Ivey waived, conduct detrimental to the team.

No explanation of what conduct. No specifics. Just gone.

Coach Billy Donovan told reporters the Bulls "have people from all different walks of life" and that "everybody has to be professional." He did not explain how quoting Scripture on your personal Instagram account is unprofessional.

He did not explain why proclaiming Pride Month on NBA billboards is professional, but responding to it is not.

How the NBA's Pride Night Policy Becomes Conduct Detrimental to the Team

Donovan doesn't have to explain, because everyone already understands the rule.

The NBA spent years building out its social justice infrastructure – Black Lives Matter painted on courts, Pride Month branded across every arena, social causes pushed at every turn. Players who embraced it were celebrated. Players who stayed quiet were tolerated. Players who objected were not.

The Bulls traded for Ivey eight weeks ago, acquiring him from the Detroit Pistons at the deadline. He played four games before a knee injury ended his season. The 24-year-old was a former All-Rookie selection who averaged a career-high 17.6 points per game last season – a top-five pick the Bulls hoped to build around.

He was already done playing. He was already on injured reserve. His contract was already expiring.

And they still waived him – formally, publicly, with a statement citing "conduct detrimental" – within hours of him posting a Bible-based critique of Pride Month on his own phone.

That is not a basketball decision. That is Adam Silver sending a message to every Christian in the locker room.

What Silver Tolerates – and What He Won't

The NBA has a long memory for certain things and a very short one for others.

Players have kept roster spots through domestic violence allegations, criminal charges, and public feuds with coaches. Jonathan Isaac stood alone on the Orlando Magic bench in 2020 – didn't kneel, didn't wear the jersey – and kept his job. Russian NHL players declined Pride Night jerseys in 2023 over religious objections and kept theirs.

The difference is those men stayed quiet about their reasoning. Ivey put his faith on the billboard and asked Silver to defend his.

Silver never had to answer. The Bulls did it for him by 5 p.m.

Ivey's response on Instagram Live that same night: "They're liars, bro. Ask any one of them coaches in there, 'Was I a good teammate?' All I'm preaching about is Jesus Christ and they waived me."

He is not wrong about what happened. The Bulls didn't waive Jaden Ivey because he was a bad teammate. They waived him because he said something the NBA decided its players are not allowed to say.

The NBA Just Showed Every Christian Player What Religious Freedom Costs

The Bulls tried to frame this as a professionalism issue. Donovan used the word "professional" three times in his press conference. But consider what the NBA considers professional.

Pride Month branding runs wall to wall in NBA arenas every season. The league launched NBA Pride as a formal internal employee resource group and advertises it openly. Teams stage Pride Night events with special court designs, branded merchandise, and promotional campaigns. All of this is professional.

A 24-year-old Christian man posting his religious views on his own Instagram account while rehabbing a knee injury alone in a hotel room – that is conduct detrimental to the team.

Every Christian still playing in the NBA just watched this happen in real time. They know exactly what it means. Stay quiet, keep your Bible verses off Instagram, and Adam Silver will leave you alone. Ask one honest question about who gets to proclaim what in this league – and you'll be explaining yourself on an Instagram Live from an airplane before dinner.

Jaden Ivey asked how it is that one can't speak righteousness in a league that proclaims unrighteousness on billboards. He got his answer.

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Sources:

• Scott Thompson, "Bulls waive Jaden Ivey after he called NBA's Pride Month celebration 'unrighteousness,'" Fox News, March 30, 2026.
• AP, "Bulls waive guard Jaden Ivey after anti-LGBTQ comments, remarks about religion on Instagram," Associated Press, March 31, 2026.
• Staff, "Chicago Bulls Waive Jaden Ivey Hours After He Took An Opposing Stance To Pride Events With A Social Media Post," OutKick, March 31, 2026.
• ESPN Staff, "Bulls waive guard Jaden Ivey after anti-gay comments," ESPN, March 30, 2026.
• Staff, "Bulls waive guard Jaden Ivey after anti-Pride remarks," Chicago Sun-Times, March 30, 2026.