Bulls release Ivey following Instagram comments

Nobody expected the Bulls' flurry of deadline trades in February to spark the next dynasty, but they closed the book Monday on one of those deals by releasing guard Jaden Ivey.

The team statement explained it was due to “conduct detrimental to the team.”

Ivey posted a long video on Instagram earlier in the day about the NBA’s support for LGBTQ+ communities, where he criticized the league for promoting Pride Month, and holding Pride Nights at games.

“They proclaim it on the billboards, they proclaim it in the streets, unrighteousness,” he said at one point in the video. “So how is it one can't speak righteousness? How are they to say, 'This man is crazy, you're making the wrong statements?'”

Ivey started the video by comparing himself to ESPN commentators and asking why he can't express opinions like they do.

There were already doubts about Ivey's future with the Bulls due to his health. Drafted by Detroit with the No. 5 pick of the 2022 NBA Draft out of Purdue, Ivey was averaging 17.6 points when he suffered a broken left fibula 30 games into the 2024-25 season.

He also had arthroscopic surgery on his right knee before the start of this season. When he finally got back on the court, Ivey played in 33 games for the Pistons, but averaged just 8.2 points. He went to the Bulls as part of a three-way trade on Feb. 3 that had the Bulls sending Kevin Huerter to Detroit.

After the trade, Ivey played in four games for the Bulls, averaging 11.5 points in 28.8 minutes. Eventually, he was shut down due to knee soreness, then the team announced last Thursday he would not play again this season and would continue to rehab his left knee.

Ivey will be a restricted free agent this summer, so it was unclear what sort of contract offer the Bulls or any team would make for a player with so many health questions.

If the Bulls did have plans to keep Ivey as a piece in the ongoing rebuild, they should have had second thoughts after seeing him on the court.

Following a Feb. 19 game against Toronto, when Ivey was declared healthy enough to play, but did not see any action, he had a long talk with reporters, which included discussion of his health status and becoming a born-again Christian. At one point, he stated, “The old J.I. is dead.”

“I'm alive in Christ, no matter what the basketball setting is,” Ivey said that night. “I'm born again.”

The Bulls announced two days later Ivey would be shut down for two weeks due to his sore knee. It turned out, that was the end of his brief Bulls career.