On March 30, 2026, Jaden Ivey, who is a 24 year-old NBA player for the Bulls, said the following on a livestream:
Jaden Ivey (March 30, 2026)
The world can proclaim 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.' They proclaim it on the billboards. They proclaim it on the streets. Unrighteousness.
As a result, a few hours later, the Bulls waived him for "conduct detrimental to the team", meaning as of right now, he is not on an NBA team.
According to other reports, Ivey was also known for preaching to his teammates in the locker room, and was very publicly a Christian, so these remarks are in line with how he generally presents himself.
What stood out to me when learning about this controversy was the fact that many Christians truly are hypocrites. Their book, which they believe is inspired by God, very clearly says that homosexuality is, as Ivey says, "unrighteous". In fact, their book says that homosexuality is an abomination (Leviticus 18:22, 20:13), that homosexuals are to be killed (Leviticus 20:13), that homosexuality bars one from the Kingdom of God (1 Corinthians 6:9-10), and so on.
Therefore, every Christian with any relationship to the NBA should have come to Ivey's aid, loudly and publicly. He was merely saying an extremely watered-down version of what they ostensibly believe that God has said. If Ivey really wanted to be Christian, he could've said, "All male homosexuals should be put to death". That's what God said, right Jaden Ivey & co.? The book of Leviticus says that God said that (Leviticus 20:1, 20:13) - and Jesus affirmed that book (Matthew 5:17-18), and quoted that book (Matthew 22:39). So, say that. Be very clear, and emphatic. Declare the NBA to be an "anti-Christian organization", and boycott all of their games. Consistency, please. Jaden Ivey has demonstrated how to be consistent - follow his lead.
To the extent that he is consistent within his religion, I admire Jaden Ivey. I can usually dialogue with someone who is interested in consistency. He at least takes his religion seriously, and I can work with that kind of person. Now, he is wrong - but that's okay. I've been wrong before too, innumerable times. But what led me to fixing my mistake in this domain was my desire for intellectual honesty - which involves consistency.
Therefore, though Jaden Ivey is wrong, he is a better kind of wrong than many Christians, who are both wrong, and too intellectually dishonest/cognitively dissonant to acknowledge that Christianity is utterly incompatible with accepting homosexuality.