\n<\/p>\n
The Chicago Bulls released guard Jaden Ivey on Monday after Ivey posted multiple videos on social media, calling out the NBA\u2019s celebration of LGBT \u201cunrighteousness\u201d and speaking about his Christian faith.<\/p>\n
Ivey, who is averaging over eight points per game this season, was dropped by the Bulls just a month after he arrived in Chicago due to a trade with the Detroit Pistons. In one video Ivey posted on Instagram on Monday, the guard ripped the NBA for celebrating LGBT \u201cPride\u201d month.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe world can proclaim LGBTQ, right?\u201d Ivey said<\/a>. \u201cThey proclaim \u2018Pride Month\u2019 in the NBA. They proclaim it. They show it to the world. They say, \u2018Come join us for Pride Month to celebrate unrighteousness.\u2019 They proclaim it. They proclaim it on the billboards. They proclaim it on the streets. Unrighteousness.\u201d<\/p>\n In another video that Ivey recorded while on an airplane, he called out NBA star Stephen Curry and questioned Curry\u2019s Christian faith.<\/p>\n \u201cHe\u2019s not even surrendered and y\u2019all believe he\u2019s a Christian. Y\u2019all believe he\u2019s a Christian because he wrote Philippians 4:13. Ya\u2019ll think he\u2019s a Christian, but he\u2019s cursing just like the world. \u2026 He don\u2019t know Jesus and I pray he comes to the truth,\u201d Ivey said.<\/p>\n The Bulls announced on Monday afternoon that the team was releasing Ivey \u201cdue to conduct detrimental to the team.\u201d Bulls head coach Billy Donovan told reporters shortly after the team\u2019s decision that he didn\u2019t want to get into details about Ivey\u2019s social media posts. Donovan added that in his conversations with Ivey, the player has been focused on trying to rehab after suffering a knee injury and said the team hoped Ivey would be part of the roster for the \u201clong term\u201d after he was traded from Detroit.<\/p>\n \u201cOrganizationally, there\u2019s certain standards I think we want to have as an organization and live up to those each and every day,\u201d Donovan said<\/a>, adding, \u201cEverybody 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\u2019ve got to help each other and be accountable to those standards.\u201d<\/p>\n Ivey responded in another social media video after the Bulls dropped him.<\/p>\n \u201cThey said my conduct is detrimental to the team, right? Why didn\u2019t they just say we don\u2019t agree with his stance on LGBTQ? Why didn\u2019t they say that?\u201d Ivey asked<\/a>. \u201cHow is it conduct detrimental to the team? What did I do to the team? What did I do to the players? I did nothing but practice with them, play with them, pass the ball to them, [be] a good teammate to them.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cSo why is it that the NBA and the Chicago Bulls say I\u2019m detrimental to the team? How? Because I believe in the truth? Because I know Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life?\u201d he added.<\/p>\n Some Christian athletes have come out in defense of Ivey after he was released by the Bulls. Patriots star running back TreVeyon Henderson reposted<\/a> a clip of Ivey\u2019s comments about gay \u201cPride\u201d alongside a Bible verse from Matthew 5:10, which states, \u201cBlessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness\u2019 sake, For theirs is the kingdom of heaven.\u201d<\/p>\n Henderson\u2019s coach, Mike Vrabel, was asked<\/a> about the running back\u2019s support for Ivey and told reporters that he wants players like Henderson to express what they believe, but added that he wants to \u201cmake sure that they\u2019re educated.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWe want to be inclusive. Everything we want to do, we want to provide an environment for people to feel comfortable, but also to share their personal beliefs. And also, we represent the team, and we represent the organization,\u201d Vrabel added.<\/p>\n New York Jets cornerback Azareyeh Thomas also posted support for Ivey and his stance against LGBT \u201cPride\u201d celebrations.<\/p>\n \u201cThe world will try to make sin look normal and righteousness look strange. Believer or not, every single person on earth will soon have an appointment before Jesus. So if living for Christ makes us look crazy or \u2018weird,\u2019 that\u2019s okay because it isn\u2019t strange to Christ. When it\u2019s all said and done, we\u2019ll give an account to an audience of One. (Romans 14:12, 2 Cor. 5:10),\u201d Thomas wrote<\/a>. \u201c\u2019Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness\u2026\u2019 Isaiah 5:20.\u201d<\/p>\n Miami Dolphins long snapper Blake Ferguson also publicly backed<\/a> Ivey after the Bulls player was released.<\/p>\n Former New Orleans Saints tight end and outspoken Christian Benjamin Watson said<\/a> he expects the Bulls to clarify what exactly led to Ivey\u2019s release.<\/p>\n \u201cConduct detrimental covers a host of actions. It\u2019s a catch all term for everything from being late to curfew, to saying the wrong thing to the media, to fighting in the locker room. It allows clubs to discipline players without specifying certain actions. I expect the Bulls to clarify if it also includes using the term \u2018unrighteousness.\u2019 If so that\u2019s an even bigger problem,\u201d Watson said.<\/p>\n Ivey has recently become more outspoken about his Christian faith and has even opened up about his struggles with depression this season. After Ivey was kept on the bench for an entire month despite being healthy in February, the guard told reporters that because of his faith, he \u201cwasn\u2019t the same player as he used to be.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m not the J.I. I used to be. The old J.I. is dead,\u201d Ivey said. \u201cI\u2019m alive in Christ no matter what the basketball setting is.\u201d<\/p>\n