Jonathan Isaac Becomes First NBA Player To Stand For Anthem Since Restart

[RealGM Wiretap]

Jonathan Isaac chose to stand for the national anthem and also didn't wear a Black Lives Matter shirt unlike the rest of the Orlando Magic.

Isaac is well-known as one of the NBA's most openly religious players.

Isaac was asked if he believed that Black lives matter.

"Absolutely," Isaac said. "I believe that Black lives matter. A lot went into my decision and part of it is my thought that kneeling while wearing a Black Lives Matter T-shirt don't go hand in hand with supporting Black lives. And so I felt like, just me personally and what it is that I believe in, standing on a stance that I do believe that Black lives matter, but I just felt like it was a decision that I had to make and I didn't feel like putting that shirt on went hand in hand with supporting Black lives."

Isaac discussed his faith several times while describing why he made his decision.

"I don't think that kneeling or putting on a T-shirt for me, personally, is the answer," he said. "I feel like for me Black lives are supported through the Gospel. All lives are supported through the Gospel. That we all have things that we do wrong and sometimes it gets into a place of pointing fingers about which wrong is worse.

"I feel like the Bible tells us we all fall short of God's glory and at the end of the day whoever will humble themselves and seek God and repent of their sins that we could see it in a different light -- see our mistakes and people's mistakes in a different light, see people's evil in a different light. And that it would help bring us closer together and get past anything that's on the surface that doesn't really deal with the hearts of men and women."

Isaac spoke to his teammates in a team meeting prior to Friday's game.

"We had a team meeting," he said. "I told them that they know who I am as a man, they know who I am as a person. They know what it is that I believe and they respected me for the decision that I made and it was all love. So they understood that for me personally it's not coming from a position of wanting to be popular or seen or anything other than a humble [servant] of Jesus. And that's where I stake my flag and that's just how I felt and they respected me for it because they know who I am, they know my heart."

Via Nick Friedell/ESPN

[engelmartin]

Oof, ouch.

[logical_art]

Good for him. I'm sure there are more who disagree with BLM or with kneeling or simply don't want to follow the herd, but they lack Isaac's courage.

[alienpick]

Good for him. A real man stands up for what he believes is right, even if it’s not popular. A real man doesn’t let others dictate his choices or behaviour. Respect.

[Anthoine]

Stand up character. Wishing the best for him.

[Lalouie]

so he decides to stand and he's asked if he cares.

this is where it starts to get ugly

[cedric76]

Good for him. A real man stands up for what he believes is right, even if it’s not popular. A real man doesn’t let others dictate his choices or behaviour. Respect.

Respect

My favorite player

[Shem]

Good for him. A real man stands up for what he believes is right, even if it’s not popular. A real man doesn’t let others dictate his choices or behaviour. Respect.

That's why I love Colin Kaepernick. He kneeled and it wasn't popular in 2016 and got a lot of hate for it.

[logical_art]

Good for him. A real man stands up for what he believes is right, even if it’s not popular. A real man doesn’t let others dictate his choices or behaviour. Respect.

That's why I love Colin Kaepernick. He kneeled and it wasn't popular in 2016 and got a lot of hate for it.

Got a pile of money for it too.

[Years80HAWKS]

As many others, one thing is believing that there are differences between black and whites in the USA, and another much different thing is believing that BLM is the answer.
BLM works hand in hand with the Ds and they share money, politics and illicit strategies that have transformed many cities in war scenes for the last weeks.
If anybody thinks that is good for the country, then he/she has a problem.

[JN61]

I don't like this. Player shouldn't put through interrogation and singled out just because he chooses not to do these things. Think if this player was other color, people would be quick to paint him as a racist and teammates turn on him. I feel this is exactly what white players in the bubble fear just now. Mob mentality deciding what they are as a person if they don't dance following their pipes.

[Chandan]

Good for him. A real man stands up for what he believes is right, even if it’s not popular. A real man doesn’t let others dictate his choices or behaviour. Respect.

massive respect. at the end of the day, if a person is kind i couldnt care less what their political alignment is.

[tbhawksfan1]

So does that mean that he isn't against systemic discrimination or inequality? Does he think that slavery was ok?

I'm not saying that everyone should be forced to join the club, but sometimes one must take a stand againt what is wrong.

If he weren't a priviliged millionaire and worked for minimum wage, he might feel differently

[dc]

Good for him. A real man stands up for what he believes is right, even if it’s not popular. A real man doesn’t let others dictate his choices or behaviour. Respect.

So basically, he's the new Colin Kaepernick, LOL. You could've written exactly the same thing word for word about Kaepernick 4 years ago and it would've described his situation exactly the same. Irony is a great thing.

But seriously, if you don't have a problem with Kaepernick kneeling, you shouldn't have a problem with Isaac standing either.....and vice versa.

[ShazamDaShiznt]

Oh boy this NBA return is really ugly some of these players should start their political campaign, you gotta do something when you get over 40.

The irony is that under Obama's administration more black people were being shot by the police and more black people were unemployed, buuuut no kneeling protests were there 5 years ago. When did Kaep start the kneeling in NFL? Circa 2016?

Interesting how they hold their hands together during anthem but sit couple of feet away from each other during games. If they are trying to send a good social distancing message, I think they failed at that.

[dc]

So does that mean that he isn't against systemic discrimination or inequality? Does he think that slavery was ok?

I'm not saying that everyone should be forced to join the club, but sometimes one must take a stand againt what is wrong.

If he weren't a priviliged millionaire and worked for minimum wage, he might feel differently

I think it's kind of clear that Isaac is not only a religious guy, but he's a bible thumper. And by that I mean he's one of those guys who doesn't mind seeing religion start to creep into politics and every day lives of others, even those who don't share his faith.

And what are certain words in the bible? "Slaves, obey your masters." That kind of stuff.

If he feels that any part of the BLM movement or whatever it is that's transpired the past few months goes against his religious beliefs in any way, then he's probably going to be opposed to it to some extent, or at the very least he doesn't want to participate in it. Honestly, I think that's fine and I don't think players (or fans) should give him a hard time for it.

It would be counter productive for people who support BLM and any of it's associated movements to denigrate Isaac the same way a large portion of society denigrated Kaepernick. They can survive his decision to not be part of it.

[dc]

Interesting how they hold their hands together during anthem but sit couple of feet away from each other during games. If they are trying to send a good social distancing message, I think they failed at that.

I think sitting away from each other during games is a waste of time in this situation. If they're bodying up against each other in practice and during games, then sitting away from each other on the bench doesn't serve much of a purpose. And really, IF everybody theoretically follows the rules of staying inside the bubble, it really shouldn't matter. Yeah, it's a big if, but you get the point.

[dougthonus]

I don't like this. Player shouldn't put through interrogation and singled out just because he chooses not to do these things. Think if this player was other color, people would be quick to paint him as a racist and teammates turn on him. I feel this is exactly what white players in the bubble fear just now. Mob mentality deciding what they are as a person if they don't dance following their pipes.

I agree, if this was a white player, it would have likely been pretty ugly, but for better or worse, lots of things are like that in life. You'd probably be right to question the motives of a white player doing the same thing.

[mixerball]

why is this news in any form? leave the man alone.

[birdlives_ma]

The dude has every right to do whatever he wants, and if he thinks kneeling isn’t the right thing for him, more power to him.

But I gotta say, he doesn’t come off as particularly bright here. Correct me if I’m wrong, but it sound from his quotes like his stance is “well, we’re ALL sinners, so none of this matters until we humble ourselves before god and accept Jesus into our hearts.” Awesome, thanks bro. So helpful.