Joel Lorenzi shares background on Jaden Ivey's turbulent exit from Bulls
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What led to Jaden Ivey's turbulent exit from the Bulls?
We go to our hotline and also to Twitch, twitch.tv slash thescorechicago. We bring in the athletic NBA writer, Joel Lorenzi. He's at JoelXLorenzi on X. He covers the NBA via Chicago. He has been a very big part of covering the Bulls most recently. And he's a part of a story. That is right now out on The Athletic. The headline is Jaden Ivey's turbulent NBA career from top five pick to waved by the Bulls. Joel, thanks for joining us.
Always. How you guys doing?
Good. I hadn't been able to talk about this story until today. And it's upsetting from a personal standpoint of just hoping he's okay. How has this unfolded for you when it's come to being a part of the beat that covered him and then also the events that have all taken place and seeing the videos that continue to come out on social media?
Yeah, it's a bit difficult to cover because I am... by no means an expert in psychology, religion, pretty much most of the things that this situation covers. I am a basketball guy and a writer. So you want to treat this delicately, right? Because it is a delicate situation. You don't want to make assumptions. You want to just kind of relay what he's putting out there. He's talked what feels like almost every day. Yesterday was like our first break from him going live. almost since the Bulls shut his season down. And so it's been a lot. A lot's been said. There's been a lot of words, a lot of controversial words at that. And it's unlike anything I've ever covered. I mean, my first month on the job was... My first month on the job at OKC, I should say, was...
when the Giddy stuff happened. And to me, that was pretty unprecedented. And now, I mean, this is easily the... the most bizarre thing I could cover, for lack of a better word. It's unlike anything I've ever covered.
How has Joel Lorenzi's experience shaped his coverage of Jaden Ivey?
I'm curious, Joel, as far as talking to Jaden Ivey himself before all of this took place, because there's reports of him, you know, trying to push his religious beliefs on others, and that extends beyond the team to even beat reporters. Has he ever had these types of conversations that have been described with you?
Not me personally, no, but I can confirm that he's used language like fornicate and things about premarital sex with other reporters. I know that. I know firsthand accounts, for sure, dating back to when he was in Detroit. And so we can talk about a timeline. I don't know. I imagine we're going to get into due diligence on the Bulls end. I don't want to accuse them of being completely oblivious, but some of the writing was on the wall. I just think, obviously, the two teams I spent the most time around are the Thunder and the Bulls, and we know basketball-wise they operate in completely different spaces. But I know that something I've been thinking about is if Sam Presti got wind of. I mean, I'm sure you guys have seen this, maybe not, but we documented it in the story you referenced.
Ten days after he broke his leg in Detroit in January of 2025, he goes on a podcast and his testimony includes talking about, in his words, being abusive, which I don't think he details physical abuse, but he calls himself an abuser. He mentions a pornography addiction. He goes down this sort of road where Um, if you are like, I am, I don't want to speak like I'm a judge of character, but if you're a team and you're filtering what kind of guys you want to bring in a building and what you want to be part of, um, I imagine that's like a red flag for you. Um, and that stuff was, that stuff was public. That was out there. And I, I don't know what the Bulls had access to, but I can confirm like Detroit media did happen to deal with, um,
talking to him and the word fornicate being used with him and things of that nature.
I mean, it just puts people in a really tough spot. It puts people in an awkward spot. You want to have a candid relationship that's professional as reporters with somebody you're trying to interview. And as we understand, Joel, some of this is also... He couldn't answer questions about basketball without bringing some of this stuff up first.
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Chapters
4 chapters
1
What led to Jaden Ivey's turbulent exit from the Bulls?
0:00–2:12
2
How has Joel Lorenzi's experience shaped his coverage of Jaden Ivey?
2:12–8:56
3
What controversial comments did Jaden Ivey make and how were they received?
8:56–11:40
4
What insights does Joel Lorenzi provide about Ivey's interactions with the media?
11:40–12:03
Speakers
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