Bad call by the Bulls

As a child of the ’80s and ’90s, there was not a day that went by where we didn’t think about the Chicago Bulls. We mimicked the famous starting lineup announcement, done by the legendary Ray Klay. We relived every one of Michael Jordan’s game-winning shots in our driveways. The posters hung in our rooms. Chicago had the greatest NBA team with the greatest player.

In the decades since, this once-iconic team has been largely irrelevant, except for a brief exciting period in the early 2000s with MVP and Rookie of the Year Derrick Rose. By habit, I still sort of follow the team. But whenever an alert pops up on my phone, I dismiss it immediately, and if a Bulls game happens to be on TV, I flip the channel to another sport.

As if this moribund franchise needed more problems, it announced on Monday that it had waived recently acquired guard Jaden Ivey for “conduct detrimental to the team.” Typically, a transaction like this would barely make a blip outside the die-hard faithful who still show up to the United Center to watch a disappointing team. But the reasons for Ivey’s dismissal should raise concern even with Americans who aren’t NBA fans.

According to the Chicago Sun Times, the team was concerned with the “religious opinions” he has been expressing lately. In a February press conference, he said, “the old Jaden Ivey is dead” and now “Christ is in his life.” This is typical Christian language that goes back to the New Testament and the Apostle Paul’s words in Galatians 2:20: “I have been crucified with Christ, and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.”

What seemed to trigger the quick action by the Chicago Bulls, however, was Jaden’s comments on the NBA’s celebration of Pride Month. On his Instagram, he expressed these comments, “The world proclaims LGBTQ, right? They proclaim Pride Month—and the NBA does too. They show it to the world. They say, ‘Come join us for Pride Month, to celebrate unrighteousness.’” Ivey, who is rehabbing his broken leg, has been fairly outspoken online, speculating on who might or might not be a Christian. With the Christian sports ministry Sports Spectrum, he also openly shared the details of his life, from suffering sexual abuse as a child, to seeking happiness from a party lifestyle and sexual sin, and finally to the peace he has found in Christ and a fulfilling marriage.

NBA teams make transactions all the time and players get waived for a variety of reasons. Since being drafted high in the 2022 draft out of Purdue, Ivey has shown flashes of good play but has, for the most part, not lived up to this talent. Yet it’s outrageous to cut him for the crime of holding an opinion shared by millions of Christians worldwide and believers throughout church history. Consider how much bad behavior teams tolerate from good players. Remember former Bulls defensive star Dennis Rodman?

More importantly, NBA players often express their opinions in a variety of political and social issues, from immigration, to gun control, to racial justice or other issues. This is their political right. They, too, are taxpaying citizens. Even if I disagree with them, I don’t want them punished for their opinions. There is a history of advocacy by athletes, from Muhammed Ali to Tim Tebow.

But while a certain kind of political advocacy or religious opinion is lauded, conservative beliefs are considered out of bounds. Or they are punished, like in the case of Jaden Ivey. NBA teams as private businesses have the right to believe and not believe certain things and to hire and fire according to those beliefs, though one wonders whether Ivey’s union rights were violated according to the collective bargaining agreement between players and owners.

Still, regardless of the legality of the move, it’s a bad look for the Chicago Bulls and the NBA. Conservatives don’t expect professional sports franchises to turn into Sunday school, but the double standard in allowing one kind of political or religious advocacy and disallowing another is going to alienate millions of fans who hold traditional Christian beliefs. A better approach would be to do what the Kansas City Chiefs did when star kicker Harrison Butker, an outspoken believer, shared traditional views on marriage and family that kicked up a media firestorm. Instead of apologizing for their player, head coach Andy Reid spoke of his respect for Butker and about the diversity of views in the Chiefs locker room.

We should pray for Jaden Ivey and other Christians, such as New England Patriots running back TreVeyon Henderson, who supports the NBA player. Hopefully the Chicago Bulls will reconsider their wrong-headed action. Perhaps the words of their greatest player might cause some reflection, “Republicans buy sneakers too.”