Below is my column in the New York Post on the termination of Chicago Bulls guard Jaden Ivey after his posting of religious views on social media. The controversy should allow for a broader debate on the endorsement of political and social causes by sports teams while gagging players and coaches with opposing views.
Here is the column:
This week, the Chicago Bulls waived guard Jaden Ivey for “conduct detrimental to the team.” No, Ivey did not assault anyone or gamble on games. He did not call for violence. Ivey expressed his opposing religious beliefs, including criticizing the NBA’s Pride Month celebrations.
There is no question that private companies have the right to control employees’ on-the-job speech, including barring demonstrations such as kneeling during the national anthem. However, the Ivey controversy exposes the hypocrisy of sports associations and teams in the combination of corporate virtue signaling and athlete speech limitations.
Companies in various fields have asserted the right to condition contracts on the possibility of termination due to public behavior or comments that are detrimental to the company.
Notably, this was a player speaking off the basketball court who was deemed “detrimental” to the brand. The main concern is the lack of consistency. Actors such as Rachel Zegler have tanked their own movies to use their platforms to advance their own political viewpoints. Likewise, athletes have routinely espoused controversial views on racial divisions or law enforcement without losing their contracts. Recently, teams supported athletes espousing anti-ICE sentiments. In other words, it is not advocacy but the cause that these companies focus on when allowing or punishing speech.
At the same time, the NFL and NBA require players to wear and espouse views that some of them — like some in the nation — may oppose. Ivey was objecting that he does not feel that Pride Month is espousing “righteous” lifestyles. Ivey was not attacking the Bulls or the game. He was asserting that he does not support the virtues or values being endorsed by the company.
Many of us were offended by social media postings by Ivey in referring to Catholicism as a “false religion.” He also drew the ire of many by telling a fan that “God does not hear your prayer if you are a sinner.”
However, it appears that it was his criticism of the LGBTQ community and Pride Month that ended the matter with the NBA. Ivey objected to the advocacy required by the NBA, objecting “they proclaim it. They show it to the world. They say, ‘Come join us for Pride Month,’ to celebrate unrighteousness.”
The issue of “talent” becoming notorious has long been a focus of sports and entertainment contracts. Hateful or divisive public comments can impact a brand or corporate image. For example, a team does not have to continue an association with a racist spewing hateful remarks about fans.
The Ivey controversy should force a discussion of the countervailing responsibilities of the teams and the NBA. Some of us have previously criticized the virtue-signaling of associations like the NFL, with giant statements in the end zones and on players’ helmets. Many fans would like these teams to stop lecturing them and simply play sports. We do not need morality or civics lessons from the likes of NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell.
However, if the NFL and NBA are going to get into the business of shaping fans’ values, they may need to accept greater leeway for athletes who hold opposing values. Instead, they are expecting athletes like Ivey to effectively endorse approved values while barring them from expressing dissenting views.
This is not the first such controversy. Years ago, former coach Tony Dungy was the subject of a cancel campaign because he expressed his faith at a pro-life rally.
Former Washington Commanders defensive coordinator Jack Del Rio was punished for expressing a dissenting view of what happened on January 6th and what he viewed as the different treatment given to these cases, including excessive sentences.
Likewise, recently, Chicago Cubs player Matt Shaw was the target of a campaign to trade him after he attended the funeral of Charlie Kirk.
Sports organizations, like other businesses, have every right to bar protests and political statements at games. They should, however, apply the same standard to themselves. It is time to get virtue signaling and social statements out of sports. Teams need to stop picking sides on social and political issues while blocking opposing views from their athletes. Once out of the business of shaping public values and views, these teams will be in a better position to demand that athletes avoid controversial public statements that alienate fans or harm a brand.
Otherwise, teams could simply bar such commentary during games and allow athletes the same freedom of expression outside of the game that the teams enjoy during games.
None of this means that Jaden Ivey is right or admirable in his specific statements. It only means that, if teams want him to just play basketball, they should do the same.
Jonathan Turley is a law professor and the best-selling author of “Rage and the Republic: The Unfinished Story of the American Revolution.”
Any policy that would shut up virtue signaller par excellence and common scold Steve Kerr would be welcome.
We are having our own little version of this in my neck of the woods. A mayor of a local tourist town on the lake/river here has “disinvited Tom Homan to dock his boat or stay at any of the mayor’s hotels even though Tom Homan owns a home of long standing in this town. The mayor, and a small, but loud. group of citizens of this town are the abnormality in a mostly strong red corner of upstate NY. He has been bombarded with criticism and boycotts by almost the entire area. The difference between what the Team owners did and our little incident is that the locals, here, rallied around the constitution stating that the mayor had the full protection of the law to say what he did, but we, in opposition, did not have to patronize his many establishments because of it. Simple as that. I do not know why the community of citizens who took offense at the release of this person, speaking his constitutional rights to do so, do not take the same resistant response and just abandon the team because it doesn’t represent their values. Let the team be as woke as they want, but just keep in mind Bud Lite.
The same is happening here. People are criticizing the Bulls but generally are not suggesting legal action should be taken against them.
What do you think would have happened if a Muslim player, not on the court or in the locker room, said he didn’t want to participate in Pride Week celebrations because the Koran says homosexuality is wrong? Absolutely nothing. Just like a pacifist should be force to support war, no person should be compelled to support speech that has nothing to do with their job and runs counter to their personal beliefs. The NBAs hypocrisy runs deeps.
It has been a sad time. I was an avid NFL football fan but when the league joined in the protest over the death of a known fentanyl addict with a long rap sheet that was enough for me. The league was essentially agreeing with the defunding of police movement that stemmed from the death of George Floyd.
The league did so while the police patrolled the stadium area to make sure that the NFL fans could attend the games safely. Half time shows with the depiction of the sex act and a rapper who sings about how his girlfriend thinks his dick is hot. I’m tired of watching you kiss whatever rear end is the movement of the day. So long NFL.
Yup. The NFL and NBA are dead to me. I too used to be an avid fan of both, but now I have no interest at all. They’ve both gone full woke. That’s their right, and it’s my right not to watch or support them.
Not that your participation meant anything to them. We’re all cattle to them.
You’re right, I doubt I meant anything to them individually, just as my own selection of beverages meant nothing to Bud Light individually. But from what I’ve been reading and hearing, a significant portion of the professional sports customer base is starting to feel the same way.
“It’s the [globalization], stupid!”
– James Carville
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America is passé.
America is irrelevant.
Global audiences are the targets.
“Blue Jays DFA Anthony Bass before Pride Weekend celebration” He has not played again
But of you are good enough and strong
“Clayton Kershaw pushed for Dodgers to announce Christian night in response to LGBTQ+ charity award”
“I don’t agree with making fun of other people’s religions,” he said. “It has nothing to do with anything other than that. I just don’t think that, no matter what religion you are, you should make fun of somebody else’s religion. So that’s something that I definitely don’t agree with.”
“Several NFL teams honor Charlie Kirk before games”
Not sure what your point is, professor. This was a business decision that the league has to live or die by. Their consumers will determine if the action was good or bad.
“Not sure what your point is, professor.”
He stated his point explicitly numerous times, from various angles:
“The main concern is the lack of consistency.” (JT)
But when a private business owner decides not to bake a cake, suddenly we’re in Nazi Germany?
Just you, in your mind.
Good point
Only the owner may “claim and exercise” dominion over private property.
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“[Private property is] that dominion which one man claims and exercises over the external things of the world, in exclusion of every other individual.”
– James Madison
What a freaking zoo!
What, America?
No, that’s “The Island of Dr. Moreau!”
“This week, the Chicago Bulls waived guard Jaden Ivey for “conduct detrimental to the team.” No, Ivey did not assault anyone or gamble on games. He did not call for violence. Ivey expressed his opposing religious beliefs, including criticizing the NBA’s Pride Month celebrations.”
This encapsulates why I no longer follow any professional sports. The first reason is legalized gambling. Now, I am a libertarian, and accordingly I think that gambling should be legal, period. That does not mean that I must embrace all of the results. The way that sports and sports gambling is currently set up is just asking for athletes to be bought; the temptation must be tremendous, no matter how much salary the athlete commands. There actually have been a number of cases in which pro athletes have been caught influencing performances or outcomes for money since the widespread legalization, but those stories have been suppressed by a consortium of MSM, the gambling industry, and professional sports associations and teams at least as effectively as the MSM avoids any positive mention of Donald Trump. To bring this back to the main thrust of Turley’s column, those associations and their teams were once concerned mainly with the quality of the product they presented to the public. The perception of that quality was based on performance in games, which was in turn largely a reflection of the talent of the athletes on the field or floor. It now appears that any appreciation of athletic talent is far subordinated to concern about whether or not the player has politically correct attitudes and opinions. I was, and never will be, interested in sports based on the espoused political philosophy of the players.
The way the Bulls are playing right now, they do not need. to be dropping consistently good players. Mr Ivey played for Purdue and was a superior and highly athletic player and was a joy to watch and has been quite successful in the NBA. He has also had some recent problems, by his own admission, with depression and suicidal thoughts. It seems that the Bulls did not seem to care much about his well being or religious views even as they preached their values (or lack of them) to their fans.
I agree that sports teams need to play sports and look after their players and fans and drop their advocacy for controversial issues. We go to sports because it has been clean and competitive and where we can just be fans away from all other strains and complaints of modern life. It’s a welcome escape for many people just like films once were.
The teams are going to face more issues like this because there are athletes who wear their religious beliefs on their sleeves and are less likely to just “shut up and play” or wear logos and statements offensive to them. This also happens in the non sports world.
Businesses should work on their products and leave their views to themselves.
Thanks for the sermon GEB. Anything else you want to add? No? Round of applause for Preacher GEB.
Businesses should work on their products and leave their views to themselves. Like the medical industry, silencing pro-rights, and aborting babies? Got it.
GEB, you make some good points. Even though it’s their legal right to politicize themselves, it is healthier for society to have some “buffer spaces” that remain unpoliticized, like sports, entertainment, late-night comedy, and the like. The Left ruins these spaces by politicizing them. To the Left, every facet of society is about politics. And we become spiritually impoverished.
GEB just rewrote what Turley opined. Think harder and quit kissing ass.
The transgender spectrum (e.g. homosexual orientation, simulants) has no redeeming value to society or humanity. The Rainbow banner and rhetoric are albinophobic. Two men and a womb farm is misogynistic. That said, let’s celebrate pride parades of lions, lionesses, and their unPlanned cubs playing in gay revelry on the plains of Africa. #HateLovesAbortion
The NBA is clearly an Enemy of Liberty. The best tool we little folk have is the boycotte. Use it.
Just the NBA? Or watch girls basketball for comedy relief.
“Just the NBA? Or watch girls basketball for comedy relief.”
You can find girls’ basketball played by actual females?
Prof. Turley has forgotten the most egregious example of cancellation: the expulsion of Enis Kanter from the NBA. He was traded away by the Boston Celtics for the speech crime of criticizing the Chinse government for practicing virtual-slavery in its treatment of Uyghurs:
“Enes Kanter Freedom (Turkish pronunciation: [eˈnes kanˈtæɾ fɾiˈdom]; born Enes Kanter; May 20, 1992[3]) is a Turkish and American human rights activist[4] (2022) Nobel peace prize nominee[5], New York Times bestselling author and former NBA basketball player who played 11 seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA). Born in Switzerland to Kurdish parents, he was raised in Turkey and moved to the United States as a teenager. Freedom was selected as the third overall pick of the 2011 NBA draft by the Utah Jazz, and primarily played the center position. He is a human rights activist and is known for his “freedom shoes” and outspoken criticism of human rights abuses in China, particularly the treatment of Uyghurs and the use of forced labor. He has become a prominent voice for the oppressed in various countries, including Turkey, China, Russia, Iran, North Korea, Venezuela and throughout the Middle East.” [from Wikipedia}
So, the NBA, which is composed of mainly African-American players, has a policy of silencing critics of slavery IF the victims are not black and IF the perpetrator is an important member of the audience for the NBA games. What is worse than the cretinous behavior of the NBA management is the silence of everyone else, esp. the black players.
Today’s opinion is Ivey’s, not Kanters. None the less, we’re impressed. Gold star for you.
“What is worse than the cretinous behavior of the NBA management is the silence of everyone else, esp. the black players.”
I’m not as sure as you are about that. It is regrettable, but I do somewhat understand it. Back NBA stars have for the most part been from monetarily poor backgrounds and often broken families, and suddenly found themselves wealthy for doing something that requires relatively little effort on their part. And even the black exceptions to that example are likely nearly all well aware that silence is often a requirement to maintain what to them may be unearned largess.
“Black NBA stars”
If Ivey had made his criticisms from the basis of being a strict Muslim, the NBA would not have done anything. To NBA teams, though, it’s open-season on Christians. The NBA bows to Chinese demands for speech controls, too, because the NBA wants to sell its product to the Chinese market and is willing to accede to any speech-limiting demands made by China. The hypocrisy and false sanctimony are the most disturbing aspects of the NBA’s behavior.
Right! Chinese control… corporate control … capitalism v. communism.
Exactly right. The NBA and NFL have gone full woke. And woke prioritizes a violent, terrorist, America hating ideology over people whose only crime is having a different political opinion. Because colonialism or some such garbage.
If his individuality means more than money, good for him Considering he had agents and lawyers to guide him. I don’t think he’s a victim of the NBA chattel system. He broke free of it. Isn’t that what being an American was supposed to be mean – at one time? We are all now polarized beyond redemption.
Jimmy “the Greek” Snyder was a regular contributor to the CBS program The NFL Today and a well-known Las Vegas bookmaker. On January 15, 1988—coinciding with Martin Luther King Jr. Day—he was interviewed by WRC-TV and made several controversial remarks, suggesting that Black athletes were superior to white athletes because they had been “bred to be that way” during slavery.
The Comments: Snyder stated, “The slave owner would breed his big black [man] to his big woman so that he could have a big black kid… That’s where it all started”. He further claimed that Black athletes had “bigger thighs” and were superior due to this historical breeding, and suggested that white athletes were too “lazy” to compete, with coaching being the only domain left for them.
The Firing: CBS fired Snyder from The NFL Today on January 16, 1988, one day after the comments were made, calling his remarks “reprehensible”.
Aftermath: Snyder apologized, saying his remarks were misinterpreted and that he meant to emphasize how hard Black athletes worked, but the apology was not accepted, and his career in major media ended.
Snyder, who died in 1996, is remembered for this incident, which is frequently cited alongside other discriminatory remarks in sports, such as those made by Al Campanis, in discussions regarding racial prejudice in professional sports.
Not sure why that is relevant, but since you opened the door….
It should be obvious Jimmy the Greek’s comments would have been warmly embraced by early 20th century “progressives” and “intelligentsia” during the eugenics era.
Eugenicists believed they could create a superior race of people through a combination of highly selective breeding and forced sterilization. Laws were enacted in America in several states that allowed for the forced sterilization of people the progressives did not like. Many of those laws have not been repealed. The laws were deemed constitutional in the Supreme Court decision Buck v Bell. Judicial icon, Oliver Wendall Holmes, wrote the opinion. In it he infamously wrote about state forced sterilization, “three generations of imbeciles is enough”.
Read about Madison Grant. A Yale grad and prominent New Yorker. He ranks right up there with Teddy Roosevelt and John Muir as a leader in the conservation movement. You probably do not know much about him, however, because he was also a huge supporter of eugenics. The eugenics history goes largely ignored today, of course, I believe because Hitler and Mengele took the ideas promoted by American and UK progressive eugenicists and ran with them. So they do not want to draw attention to that ugly history.
Jimmy the Greek’s views that slaves were “bred” to create certain desirable traits in their offspring does not strike me as offensive or controversial. It is popular to breed animals and plants for desirable traits. Since Democrats considered black Americans as sub-human property, why wouldn’t they breed their property to produce offspring with desirable traits, just as tomatoes, beef, etc. are bred to produce offspring with desirable traits?
Can you close the door please?
Eugenics then. Planned Parenthood and “ProChoice” (that is, Pro Abortion) today! It’s all about killing babies.
Waaa… the NBA is killing babies? Enslaving blacks? Oh woe is us.
Is this the Darwin award? Nature selectively breeds. It’s part of evolutionary biology.
Major leagues sports = slavery. I wish I was a slave … a very rich one.
Freedom of speech is dying in our country. We have come to the point that only certain people can speak out on a subject, and the rest have to keep their views on life to themselves. If our society keeps going down this road, it will join China, Iran, and other governments in blocking free speech based on their religious views. Jaden Ivey should sue them.
I disagree… You’re thinking Europe, different world right? Its not dying, yet there are hundreds of media platforms for the stupid, the smart and brainless to show the world how dumb they are.
“You’re thinking Europe, different world right?”
Soros and his allies and minions want to bring all of that cr@p going in in Europe directly to our shores, ASAP. Democratic victories in the next two successive national elections will provide the means to do exactly that. So, keep basking in your deluded, misplaced, stuporous optimism, and see what happens next.
“want to bring all of that cr@p going in in Europe directly to our shores”
Don’t be surprised if you see an Americanized version of something like this: some US state or municipality banning display of the Stars and Stripes as the 250th Anniversary celebration approaches this July 4th:
Liberal Council In UK Moves To Ban “Intimidating” National Flags
zerohedge.com/political/liberal-council-uk-moves-ban-intimidating-national-flags
“Oxfordshire County Council is pushing a county-wide crackdown by on the grassroots Raise the Colours campaign, which has been putting up Union Flags and St George’s Crosses in public spaces as a straightforward show of patriotism. The council’s message is clear: national symbols are now suspect.”
Sue them? I’m guessing he has a contract that dictates what players can say publicly. Ivey sold his 1A rights for millions of dollars in salary. Worthwhile tradeoff I’d say. Wish someone would pay me; I’d sell too. As an common citizen, if your 1A rights were impinged, you’d have to fight, and pay a lot of money to recover it. With no guarantee of winning.
Your 1A rights only protect you from being prosecuted by govt. It’s a basic misunderstanding of speech freedom to extrapolate some kind of wider protection from blowback for what you say in public. Private citizens and organizations are not bound by 1A, only governments. Examples:
• you can be publicly criticized for what you say
• you can be fired from your job, and lose future business
• others can ignore you, and refuse to repeat your message
• you can be socially distanced or ostracized
• you can find relationships you’ve formed soured
• you can lose membership in an association
That said, open-mindedness to well-meaning criticism is a virtue and a success-factor in any complex undertaking. High achievers have a thick skin when it comes to listening for negative feedback — it is the lifeblood of continuous improvement.
Life is about balance. You right to say what you think has to balanced with others’ rights to think and act in their own self-interest. Call it civility. Call it diplomacy. Or just learned social skills, such as delivering negative feedback without making it a personal slight.
No one misunderstands what the 1st Amendment encompasses – gov v citizen, but the federal gov. regulates contractual law, regulates corporations, regulates citizens, regulates speech, especially religious speech, even v. corps. So, possibly Ivey has an issue. He has he means to test that. And a lot of interested parties with brains and wallets. You’re not a 1A expert, nor am I. But money talks. In fact, it screams very loudly.
“I’m guessing he has a contract that dictates what players can say publicly. ”
The NBA probably hired the guy who writes the fine print for Microsoft user agreements to word those contracts…
I don’t know. Have you ever run a business? Would you allow an employee you are paying to speak publicly against your organization? You’d be on safe ground to give them a warning, and then fire them if public comments causing problems for the company continue.
I think JT has a better idea, for these sports organizations to cease moralizing in public as a team activity.
Speak publicly when religious rights are being impinged? And especially when they dictate speech. I’d have to think that over. Carefully.
The Babylon Bee suggested that the Bulls would take Ivey back if he snorted some cocaine and beat up a couple of women.
On prayers not being answered he sounds like the pope.
You skirted the legal issues. State them please. Try again.
Legal issues you say? Write them yourself. That’s why Turley wrote the article… to include smartasses like to get a word in, even edgewise. Get it?