One day after the Chicago Bulls cut him loose, Jaden Ivey says his own blood has turned their backs. The 24-year-old guard took to Instagram Live on Tuesday with a devastating claim: his wife and family have stopped responding to him entirely.
The Jaden Ivey family betrayal revelation comes just hours after the Bulls waived him for “conduct detrimental to the team.” His initial anti-LGBTQ rant, in which he condemned the NBA’s Pride Month celebrations as “unrighteousness,” triggered the swift dismissal. But the fallout has now reached far beyond basketball.
In an emotional livestream, Ivey detailed how his closest relatives have reacted to his controversial statements. His wife, Caitlyn, the mother of his three children, has stopped replying to his text messages.
“Those who are my family members betraying me because of what I spoke,” Ivey said. “The truth. Betraying me. Saying that I’m losing my mind. Saying that I’m crazy, that I don’t know the truth. These are my own family members who love me, my blood. Those who raised me said that I don’t know the truth. ‘Man, he’s psycho.’ He’s this, he’s that. Those are my own household.”
He did not specify whether his mother, Niele Ivey, the head women’s basketball coach at Notre Dame, has also cut contact. But the family rift appears complete, with Ivey insisting the rupture stems entirely from his religious convictions.
The anti-LGBTQ rant that cost him his job wasn’t an isolated incident. In recent weeks, Ivey’s online behavior had grown increasingly erratic. He called Catholicism a “false religion” despite his mother’s role at one of the nation’s premier Catholic universities. He questioned Stephen Curry’s faith, claiming the Warriors star hadn’t truly surrendered to God. He told reporters last month that “the old J.I. is dead.”
All of it has prompted growing concerns about his mental health. Ivey has previously opened up about battling depression, as well as struggles with alcohol and pornography addiction, demons he says his newfound faith helped him overcome.
The Bulls moved swiftly after his 42-minute livestream, citing the conduct clause in his contract. Ivey had appeared in just four games for Chicago following a February trade from Detroit, with a lingering knee injury already sidelining him for the remainder of the season.
Now, with his NBA future in limbo and his family reportedly distancing themselves, the former fifth overall pick finds himself alone in the spotlight he created. ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith offered a blunt assessment: “You got a future to think about, and you just put it in jeopardy because you wanted to express yourself on IG.”
For Ivey, who insists he spoke only “the truth” and “the gospel,” the cost of that expression now appears to include both his career and the people closest to him.
