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Jaden Ivey Was the 5th Pick in the 2022 Draft. Now He’s Out of the NBA Forever. He’s 24.

Jaden Ivey Was the 5th Pick in the 2022 Draft. Now He's Out of the NBA Forever. He's 24.

Photo of Anthony Amador Anthony Amador Follow on X March 30, 2026
Jaden Ivey Was the 5th Pick in the 2022 Draft. Now He's Out of the NBA Forever. He's 24.

The Chicago Bulls waived Jaden Ivey on Monday for conduct detrimental to the team. Hours earlier, Ivey had posted a nearly hour-long video rant on Instagram in which he called the NBA’s celebration of Pride Month “unrighteousness,” made comments about Catholicism being a false religion, and shared his views on abortion and music culture.

The Bulls acted the same day. Coach Billy Donovan told reporters, “There’s a certain level of expectations and standards that are here.” A source within the organization said it wasn’t just the most recent post but an accumulation of comments over the past month.

Ivey, who was rehabbing a knee injury and hadn’t been with the team, responded: “They said your conduct has been detrimental to the team. I haven’t even been with the team because I’ve been rehabbing.”

He is 24 years old. He was the 5th overall pick in the 2022 NBA Draft. He has now played for two teams in four seasons and is currently not on an NBA roster.

Basketball Royalty

Jaden Ivey didn’t come from nowhere. His mother, Niele Ivey, is the head women’s basketball coach at Notre Dame. She played five seasons in the WNBA after an All-American career at Notre Dame and was drafted by the Indiana Fever in 2001. When Jaden was selected 5th overall by Detroit in 2022, they became only the second mother-son duo to both be drafted by NBA and WNBA franchises, after Javale and Pamela McGee.

At Purdue, Ivey was a consensus All-American as a sophomore, averaging 17.3 points, 4.9 rebounds, and 3.1 assists per game. He hit a buzzer-beating 25-footer to beat 16th-ranked Ohio State. He put up 22 points, 10 rebounds, and seven assists against 18th-ranked North Carolina. He was electric. The kind of player who made you stop what you were doing and watch.

The Pistons took him 5th, one pick after Sacramento took Keegan Murray, two picks after Houston took Jabari Smith Jr. Paolo Banchero went first to Orlando. Chet Holmgren went second to Oklahoma City.

The Pistons Years

Ivey’s rookie season in 2022-23 had real moments. He scored 19 in his debut against Orlando. He dropped 32 on Milwaukee. He showed the speed and explosiveness that made him a top-five pick. But the Pistons were bad. The wins didn’t come.

In 2023-24, Ivey scored a career-high 37 points against the Sacramento Kings in February 2024 with six rebounds and seven assists. It was the best game of his career. But the Pistons were historically bad that season, and individual highlights didn’t translate to team success.

Then 2024-25 started to look different. Through 30 games, Ivey was averaging 17.6 points, 4.1 rebounds, and 4.0 assists on .460/.409/.733 shooting. He was shooting 40% from three. It was his best basketball.

On January 1, 2025, Ivey collided with Orlando’s Cole Anthony while chasing a loose ball and broke the fibula in his left leg. He had surgery the next day at Henry Ford Hospital. His season was over.

The Spiral

Ivey was cleared for training camp ahead of the 2025-26 season. But in mid-October, he had to undergo arthroscopic surgery on his right knee to relieve discomfort. The Pistons said the issue was unrelated to the fibula.

When he finally returned, the Pistons had become a completely different team. They had the best record in the Eastern Conference. Ivey’s role had shrunk. He was averaging 8.2 points in 16.8 minutes over 33 games. He wasn’t the same player.

On February 3, 2026, the Pistons traded Ivey to the Chicago Bulls in a three-team deal that also involved the Timberwolves. Minnesota sent Mike Conley to Chicago as part of the trade. Detroit received Kevin Huerter, Dario Saric, and a first-round pick swap from Minnesota. The message was clear. The Pistons had moved on.

In Chicago, Ivey played four games. Three starts. He averaged 8.5 points, 2.5 rebounds, and 1.8 assists in 18.1 minutes. On March 26, the Bulls shut him down for the rest of the season with left patellofemoral pain syndrome. Another knee problem. More rehab.

Four days later, he posted the Instagram video. Hours after that, he was waived.

The Comments

Ivey’s rant was nearly an hour long. He spoke primarily about his religious beliefs. The most widely discussed portion was his comments about the NBA’s Pride Month celebrations.

“The world proclaims LGBTQ, right? They proclaim Pride Month and the NBA does, too,” Ivey said. “They say, ‘Come join us for Pride Month to celebrate unrighteousness.'”

He also called Catholicism “a false religion,” criticized abortion, and said that listening to certain music is “wicked” because of lyrics about drugs and sex. Sources said the Instagram rant was the latest in a series of increasingly polarizing posts that had started weeks earlier.

The Bulls reached out to the NBA about the proper process for releasing him. The waiver came the same day.

The Response

Ivey’s response to the waiving was the quote that went viral: “They said your conduct has been detrimental to the team. I haven’t even been with the team because I’ve been rehabbing.”

Coach Billy Donovan addressed it publicly. “Just inside the Bulls, we have people from all different kinds of backgrounds,” he said. “Whether it’s coaches, from the top, it’s always been we’re all going to work well together, we’re going to accept each other.”

The reactions online split predictably. Some argued Ivey was expressing his religious convictions and shouldn’t have been punished for it. Others said his comments were harmful and the Bulls made the right call. Both sides were loud. Neither showed signs of backing down.

5th Pick to No Team

Regardless of where anyone stands on what Ivey said, the basketball timeline is stark.

He was a consensus All-American at Purdue. He was the 5th pick in a loaded draft class. He scored 37 points in an NBA game. He was shooting 40% from three before a broken leg ended his best season.

Then the injuries took hold. A broken fibula. Knee surgery. More knee pain. A reduced role on a team that was winning without him. A trade to a rebuilding franchise. Four games. Shut down again.

And now, at 24, with his rookie contract not even finished, Jaden Ivey is out of the NBA. Whether another team picks him up remains to be seen. But as of today, the 5th overall pick in the 2022 draft is on nobody’s roster.

Less than four years ago, he shook Adam Silver’s hand on draft night. Today, his name is on a waiver wire.

Photo of Anthony Amador Anthony Amador Follow on X March 30, 2026
Photo of Anthony Amador

Anthony Amador

A graduate from the University of Texas, Anthony Amador has been credentialed to cover the Houston Texans, Dallas Cowboys, San Antonio Spurs, Dallas Mavericks and high school games all over the Lone Star State. Currently, his primary beats are the NBA, MLB, NFL and UFC.
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