March 31, 2026
Chicago Bulls Release Jaden Ivey After Anti-LGBTQ Comments Surfaced On Social Media
He was released 'due to conduct detrimental to the team.'
The Chicago Bulls waived one of their players, Jaden Ivey, after he made anti-LGBTQ comments on social media. They announced the release, stating they released him “due to conduct detrimental to the team.”
The team announced the move via social media on March 30, after Ivey posted a video criticizing the NBA for celebrating Pride Month, which he calls “unrighteousness.”
— Chicago Bulls (@chicagobulls) March 30, 2026
According to ESPN, the Bulls, who acquired Ivey in February, released him shortly after he posted a 45-minute video expressing his concerns about Pride Month and religion. He posted the video to his Instagram account.
“The world can proclaim LGBTQ, right?” Ivey said. “They proclaim Pride Month and the NBA; they proclaim it. They show it to the world. They say, ‘Come join us for Pride Month to celebrate unrighteousness.’ They proclaim it. They proclaim it on the billboards. They proclaim it in the streets. Unrighteousness. So how is it that one can’t speak righteousness? How are they to say that this man is crazy?”
Shortly after his 45-minute rant posted to Instagram, taking aim at the NBA celebrating Pride Night, social media chimed in:
“Join us for Pride Month to celebrate unrighteousness. They (NBA) proclaim it.”
Ivey will likely be fined from this. A truly unfortunate situation to watch. https://t.co/ZVSO8ga3K0 pic.twitter.com/YAVKC2vnLZ
— Evan Sidery (@esidery) March 30, 2026
After the team announced the move, Ivey returned to social media via a livestream and claimed that the Bulls released him because they disagreed with his “stance on LGBTQ.”
“[The Bulls] said my conduct is detrimental to the team,” he said. “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?”
ESPN also reported that although Ivey spoke of his religious beliefs while playing with the Detroit Pistons, he has been more outspoken since joining the Bulls. Several staff members have said that he had been “preachy” around the locker room, according to sources.
The Pistons drafted the 24-year-old guard with the No. 5 pick in the 2022 NBA Draft. The Bulls acquired Ivey from the Pistons before the trade deadline in February. The Bulls just announced recently that he would not be playing for the rest of the season due to a sore left knee.
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