Jaden Ivey started by thanking God. His thumbs were visible in the camera lens as he adjusted his phone while driving. A clear blue sky was visible through his sunroof. 'Blessed morning,' he said, in a hushed tone, to the followers who'd tuned in to his Instagram livestream. 'The Lord is gracious. Faithful.' It hardly seemed like a conversation that would lead to him losing his job in the NBA. But after thanking God, Ivey quickly struck a different tone. He talked about how ESPN pundits were allowed to freely give their opinions about basketball and judge players without incident. 'Do we not have free will to speak what we please'' he said, referring to the players themselves. Over the next 40 minutes, Ivey certainly didn't have a problem speaking freely. He proclaimed that Christians were penalized for speaking righteousness while those in the LGBTQ community were celebrated for exhibiting 'unrighteousness'; he used NBA teams hosting Pride nights as an example. This was part of a...
learn more