During a recent episode of the Joe Rogan Experience, Joe Rogan and comedian Theo Von discussed the Chicago Bulls waiving player Jaden Ivey following comments he made on Instagram Live about the LGBTQ community and the NBA’s Pride Month programming.
Theo Von brought up the situation, telling Rogan: “They just took that guy from the Chicago Bulls. He said some stuff. He believed just in like Christian dating or whatever. Or men and women, Adam and Eve, and they kicked that guy out.”
Rogan, unfamiliar with the story at first, asked for the full quote before weighing in. After pulling up the details, they read aloud what the player had said on a Monday morning Instagram Live: “The world can proclaim LGBTQ, right? They proclaim Pride Month in the NBA. They proclaim it. They show it to the world. They say, ‘Come join us for Pride Month. Celebrate unrighteousness.’ They proclaim it on billboards. They proclaim in the streets.”
Ivey then went live again two days later from his car, reading Bible scriptures and speaking about his religious beliefs over the course of a 75-minute broadcast.
This second session reportedly took place after he had already been let go by the team. On that same Monday video, Ivy also told a viewer: “Catholicism is a false religion. It’s not the true doctrine of Christ. Does not lead to salvation in Jesus Christ.”
Rogan noted that the crux of the NBA’s apparent issue was Ivy calling LGBTQ participation “unrighteous,” characterizing his comments as coming from a religious framework rooted in Bible scripture.
Theo Von pushed back on the league’s response, arguing the player should have been allowed to hold his own views: “Let the guy have his views. It’s like you can push all these agendas but they don’t have like, then push other agendas or push all the agendas.”
Both Rogan and Von ultimately landed on the same position: that a player voicing personal religious beliefs, however controversial, should not cost him a roster spot when other forms of behavior had been treated with far more tolerance by the same league.
According to sources, Ivey hosted three separate Instagram lives spanning more than three hours in total, during which he criticized the NBA’s Pride initiatives and debated viewers using Bible verses.
Team officials ultimately cited “conduct detrimental to the team” as the formal reason for his release, emphasizing the importance of professionalism and respect across the organization.
The situation unfolded at a difficult point in Ivey’s career. Once considered a promising young talent after being drafted in 2022, his momentum was disrupted by a severe leg injury in early 2025 that required a lengthy rehabilitation.
The Chicago Bulls had recently acquired him in a trade and hoped to evaluate him ahead of restricted free agency, but the combination of injury setbacks and the fallout from his online statements brought his short tenure with the team to an abrupt end.
