Former Bulls player Jaden Ivey has been released from the team after expressing his Christian beliefs while criticizing the team’s Pride Night. In a video he posted, Ivey criticized the league for hosting LGBTQ+ pride nights. “The world can proclaim LGBTQ, right? They proclaim Pride Month and the NBA. They proclaim it. They show it to the world,” he said. “They say, ‘Come join us for Pride Month to celebrate unrighteousness.’ They proclaim it. They proclaim it on the billboards. They proclaim in the streets. Unrighteousness. So, how is it that one can’t speak righteousness? Who are they to say that this man is crazy?” In another video, Ivey called Catholicism a “false religion.”

Soon after posting the videos, the Bulls announced that Ivey was no longer part of the team, stating it was because of “conduct detrimental to the team.” Christians soon rallied around Ivey, saying the team had cut him simply for being a Christian. Patriots running back TreVeyon Henderson appeared to throw in his support behind Ivey by sharing the report that Ivey had been cut alongside a quotation of Matthew 5:10, which states, “Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, For theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” Miami Dolphins long snapper Blake Ferguson showed his support by sharing the story along with a passage from John 15:18-21, which states, “If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you. Remember the word that I said to you: ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you. If they kept my word, they will also keep yours. But all these things they will do to you on account of my name, because they do not know him who sent me.”

Ivey defended his actions on “PinPoint Podcast.” “My conduct was not detrimental to the team. That is a lie. I was a good teammate to those around me. I was a good teammate on the floor. I made the right plays. I did exactly what the coach asked me to do on a daily basis,” he said.  He insisted he was cut for preaching “the word of God.” “It is strictly because I spoke the truth of the word of God and was preaching the Gospel. That’s why it was detrimental to the team. I witnessed to many on my team the truth and those things.” He insisted that he ought to be able to speak the truth. “If someone can speak and curse and speak about unrighteousness about whatever it may be, then I can speak the truth and that’s because my God says to speak the truth to the lost, to those who don’t know Jesus, to those who are not born again.”

The NBA has not responded to the controversy. Meanwhile, others criticized the hypocrisy of other players who had been caught in domestic abuse cases and were still playing. “Miles Bridges: Arrested and criminally charged with multiple felony counts of domestic violence and child abuse after an alleged assault on the mother of his children *30 game suspension, remained with the team,” wrote one account on X. “Jaden Ivey: Christian who spoke out against Pride Month *Immediately cut from the team The NBA has a massive problem and it’s not Jaden Ivey.”