Jaden Ivey shared some disturbing details about his past in an Instagram live stream after he was released by the Bulls on Monday for conduct detrimental to the team,
Ivey — whose release came hours after he posted a video rant online about religion, which referenced anti-gay remarks — explained that he had a pornography addiction when he was selected No. 5 overall out of Purdue by the Pistons in the 2022 NBA Draft.
“Before I came to the Lord Jesus Christ, the NBA was everything to me,” Ivey, 24, said in a 34-minute live stream while at an airport. “I didn’t know God. I didn’t know Jesus when I came to the NBA. I was a fornicator, I was a pornography addict and I used to get drunk. That’s all I knew. And after a win, and after all those points I felt good… I felt like I had everything set out for me.
“As soon as that shut down for me, as soon as I didn’t start, that’s when God was humbling me and he sat me down for a reason.”
Ivey was limited to 30 games last season due to injury and missed the start of this season before being dealt from Detroit to Chicago.
The Bulls announced last week that Ivey would be shut down for the season because of a sore left knee.
He was a healthy scratch due to a coach’s decision against the Raptors on Feb. 19.
In a press conference after the game, he told reporters that he “wasn’t the same player as he used to be,” and referenced his religion.
“I’m not the J.I. I used to be. The old J.I. is dead,” Ivey said at the time. “I’m alive in Christ no matter what the basketball setting is.”
In the live stream video, Ivey claimed it’s “a lie” that his conduct is detrimental to the team.
“They gonna try to stop me but I’m not, I’m going to keep speaking the truth,” he said. “That’s why everybody around me turning their back on me because of my faith. I didn’t get myself waived. I was in the gym today, I was rehabbing, lifting, and doing what was required of me in my job… I could’ve quit on my own self but they kicked me out.
“And I’m sure every NBA team is going to say the same thing, ‘We don’t want him, he’s too religious for us.’”
Ivey also mentioned Steph Curry, LeBron James and Michael Jordan.
“That’s why you got Steph Curry… he don’t know Jesus, and I pray he comes to the truth, that him and his family be saved in Jesus name… ” Ivey said. “All them rings he got, all them rings LeBron got, all them rings Michael Jordan got, all them people in the Hall of Fame who don’t know Jesus Christ — No. It’s not gonna matter on Judgment Day if you don’t know Jesus and your name is not written in the book of life.”
Ivey and his wife, Caitlyn, have three young children together.
