The date is Feb. 19, 2026.
As Jaden Ivey, wearing a beige hoodie, overlapped by a darker-shaded brown jacket, addressed the media regarding his “Did Not Play” status for the Chicago Bulls, a phrase was said in a seemingly indifferent tone, as if the emotion toward it was either a practiced sentence, reading off of an interviewer’s paper or as if Ivey were as serious as ever.
“The old J.I. [Jaden Ivey] is dead. I’m alive in Christ, no matter what the basketball setting is.” he said.
This statement shortly came after Ivey’s second knee issue, lingering back to Ivey after his devastating fibula injury in January and his immediate surgery the next day.
He would be waived just a month later.
Ivey had taken to social media to not only call out the LGBTQ+ community for their routine Pride Month celebration, labeling it “unrighteous” but also calling out other NBA players, such as four-time NBA Champion Stephen Curry, labeling him a “fake Christian.”
In response to this, I have realized two things: both the business and Ivey are hypocritical.
Starting with the NBA, we have to acknowledge the current controversy with other NBA players, who, with more extreme cases of violent action of verbiage, have not been as severely punished as Ivey.
In 2021, an surveillance domestic incident involving current Los Angeles Lakers center Jaxson Hayes and his then- girlfriend Sofia Jamora saw him not only dragging said girlfriend out of their home, but Jamora exclaiming that she will no longer be a “punching bag” to Hayes, according to Lakers and NBA reporter Dave McMenamin.
The NBA proceeded with no action toward Hayes and kept him as a vital part of the Lakers roster.
Examples like this, where video evidence clearly convicts someone of physical harm and potential danger, are still viable to face no consequence, is unacceptable to us, but to a business like the NBA, I assume, is not.
However, Ivey’s behavior toward other NBA players and fans is also unacceptable and hypocritical.
In more recent news, Ivey, when releasing his livestreams of Christian rants and moral debates, a supporter commented that he is praying for his betterment. Ivey responded, “God does not hear your prayers if you are a sinner.”
In response, an excerpt from Romans 3:23. “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” How can we assign ourselves to do the work of Christ, and we are connoting the people who pray for us in this light?
Using biblical logic and reasoning, Ivey is a sinner as well. Ivey has fallen short. However, we see that he is using this logic to shame a fan. That is not reflective of what he preaches.
Take the label of a “fake Christian” aimed at Curry. Ivey has never had a conversation with Curry about his beliefs and where he stands on the spectrum of Christianity. There is no evidence to claim that Curry is a “fake Christian” as Ivey professes.
Ivey has never been to prayer or at the altar, confessing his flaws and his mistakes alongside Curry, in hopes of repenting and becoming anew in Christ.
The hypocrisy of both the NBA, in not punishing the same players for much larger issues, and Ivey, for not being a proper reflection of what he preaches, is prevalent.
Blessings be to Ivey, the NBA and the reader.
