The Charlotte Hornets released Kai Jones, the 19th pick in the 2021 NBA Draft, due to his controversial off-season social media activity and his recent public trade request. The center quickly reacted to his departure from the team.
It’s been over a month since the Hornets released an official statement that Kai Jones has been waived. However, it appears there was some hidden truth which was concealed from the media. This has been revealed by the waived player himself.
Why did the Hornets fire Kai Jones
Charlotte Hornets has waived the 22-year-old center Kai Jones following a peculiar sequence of social media antics that eventually led to his trade request last month. Kai Jones made an appearance in a recent IZION PODCAST. Kai Jones started shedding light on the reasons behind his trade request.
Jones’ explained, “They were concerned about my social media, my sleeping patterns. They wanted me to see a therapist. I ended up going and felt like therapy wasn’t helping. Mitch tells me I’m not allowed to do training camp. That was when I’m like I’m off.”
Kai said he enjoyed his time in Charlotte, and wished it could have continued, but believed it’s better that he moved on. He said the franchise had some concerns about his social media activity and sleeping patterns.
Around that time, he was grieving the loss of his great-grandma, and the Hornets expressed their condolences, hoping they weren’t adding to his troubles. He said he was also dealing with some personal issues off the court, like anyone else.
Following the Hornets’ concern during this period, Kai was advised to see a therapist several times, with the understanding that it might not necessarily solve his personal issues. After persistently refusing to see a therapist, Mitch informed Kai that he wasn’t allowed to participate in training camp. This is when Kai decided he couldn’t stay with the team and started making trade demands in October.
However, upset with the team’s decision not to allow him to join the training camp, Kai Jones wanted to leave immediately. After a few days, according to Kai, Mitch Kupchak mentioned, “Nobody seems interested. We feel you don’t have any trade value.” Following Kai Jones’ disagreement with Hornets General Manager, they concluded to waive Kai.
Kai Jones’ controversial post on social media
Kai Jones, who appeared on IZION PODCAST, also explained his reasons for his series of controversial social media posts. Kai said, “IG is just me trying to give you an insight on how I live. It’s just dancing. I think it’s entertaining. Just try to brighten up some people’s days. Being free is the key in life and I just want to be an example of freedom.”
Jones doesn’t see anything wrong in dancing, or doing other stuff outside the basketball court. Kai sees his activities on social media as a normal way of life that he must enjoy even when he plays basketball professionally.
Here is a brief account of Kai Jones’ bizarre activities on social media: this offseason, Kai made bold statements about himself, engaging in trash talk with teammates and even basketball legends. The young Hornets player also went on Instagram Live, leading some fans to speculate about potential substance influence.
Before being waived, he asserted that his new version deserved recognition with both the Most Valuable Player and Defensive Player of the Year awards. He also made claims about outshooting Steph Curry, dominating a prime Shaquille O’Neal, and defeating prime Michael Jordan and LeBron James in one-on-one basketball games.
Jones took it a step further by asserting that he was better than his former Hornets teammates LaMelo Ball and Brandon Miller, chosen as the No. 3 and No. 2 picks, respectively. These were all signs of things falling apart between Kai and the Hornets.
