What Do We Do About Jaden Ivey?

Jaden Ivey is far from the first promising NBA prospect who failed to pan out with the team that drafted him. But few, if any, have washed out the way that he did. Ivey was drafted by the Detroit Pistons in 2022, but after a midseason trade sent him to Chicago in February, he was officially waived by the Bulls on March 30 for “conduct detrimental to the team” after spewing hateful and dangerous anti-LGBTQ rhetoric on his Instagram. Among his many online monologues, he recently posted a rant saying that the NBA is not righteous because it celebrates Pride Month. The Chicago Sun-Times reported that he would ask members of the media if they had been “saved” and whether they had engaged in premarital fornication—in a setting, mind you, where a majority of player-media interactions are as boilerplate as can be. He has said that the devil has tried—and, obviously, failed—to silence him. And while other NBA teams still trot out guys that have been charged with beating their girlfriends (and later pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor reckless assault charge and second-degree harassment violation), felony child abuse stemming from an assault case involving the children’s mother (charges that were later dismissed, but did plead no-contest for the felony charge of injuring a child's parent), the Bulls decided that Ivey’s actions were enough to swiftly sever their ties.