When is Isaac Returning? Ruled out for the entire 2021-2022 season

[thelead]

Haven’t watched this yet but man… JI is making the rounds….

Watch on YouTube

[LDNMagic90]

Random thought, but do you guys think Isaac's political stance will affect us when it comes to signing free agents? This is pure assumption, but I'd assume majority of the league are more on the left than right side of politics? So would free agents take that in to consideration when signing for us, as long as he's still a member of the Magic?

[Skybox]

Random thought, but do you guys think Isaac's political stance will affect us when it comes to signing free agents? This is pure assumption, but I'd assume majority of the league are more on the left than right side of politics? So would free agents take that in to consideration when signing for us, as long as he's still a member of the Magic?

I don't. I think it's unfortunate as he will likely not be a part of the locker room family as much as he could be, but his play is unselfish (and, at the moment, irrelevant)...Our team seems like a solid, fun crew and Isaac is just a bit of an outsider, in more ways than politics, but I don't see that being too big a label on the team's "brand".

I also care a lot more about how these young guys play than hearing about how tight they are.

[basketballRob]

Random thought, but do you guys think Isaac's political stance will affect us when it comes to signing free agents? This is pure assumption, but I'd assume majority of the league are more on the left than right side of politics? So would free agents take that in to consideration when signing for us, as long as he's still a member of the Magic?

No, I think Isaac is widely respected.

Sent from my SM-G950U using RealGM Forums mobile app

[tiderulz]

Random thought, but do you guys think Isaac's political stance will affect us when it comes to signing free agents? This is pure assumption, but I'd assume majority of the league are more on the left than right side of politics? So would free agents take that in to consideration when signing for us, as long as he's still a member of the Magic?

No, I think Isaac is widely respected.

Sent from my SM-G950U using RealGM Forums mobile app

disagree with this. players respect players and Isaac hasnt played in 2 years. and its not like he is a multiple year all-star or anything. he is just another employee on the team.

[basketballRob]

Random thought, but do you guys think Isaac's political stance will affect us when it comes to signing free agents? This is pure assumption, but I'd assume majority of the league are more on the left than right side of politics? So would free agents take that in to consideration when signing for us, as long as he's still a member of the Magic?

No, I think Isaac is widely respected.

Sent from my SM-G950U using RealGM Forums mobile app

disagree with this. players respect players and Isaac hasnt played in 2 years. and its not like he is a multiple year all-star or anything. he is just another employee on the team.

I think he's respected because he's a free thinker. 95% of the NBA couldn't tell you who the Attorney General is. When he stood all I heard was support for him from other players.

Sent from my SM-G950U using RealGM Forums mobile app

[LDNMagic90]

Random thought, but do you guys think Isaac's political stance will affect us when it comes to signing free agents? This is pure assumption, but I'd assume majority of the league are more on the left than right side of politics? So would free agents take that in to consideration when signing for us, as long as he's still a member of the Magic?

I don't. I think it's unfortunate as he will likely not be a part of the locker room family as much as he could be, but his play is unselfish (and, at the moment, irrelevant)...Our team seems like a solid, fun crew and Isaac is just a bit of an outsider, in more ways than politics, but I don't see that being too big a label on the team's "brand".

I also care a lot more about how these young guys play than hearing about how tight they are.

I hear you, however I do think it's worth considering as morale plays into how well players play (well some). For me I would think it should not matter as much, everyday we work with people with varying views. However if you and that person genuinely get along fine then some view points should not matter too much. Same in theory should apply to professional athletes, even though their world is completely different to your average '9-5er'.

[LDNMagic90]

No, I think Isaac is widely respected.

Sent from my SM-G950U using RealGM Forums mobile app

disagree with this. players respect players and Isaac hasnt played in 2 years. and its not like he is a multiple year all-star or anything. he is just another employee on the team.

I think he's respected because he's a free thinker. 95% of the NBA couldn't tell you who the Attorney General is. When he stood all I heard was support for him from other players.

Sent from my SM-G950U using RealGM Forums mobile app

Interesting point, I didn't really see much support for him from other players at the time maybe due to my algorithms on socials. I just saw more fans ripping him and a few players wanting to 'speak' with him about his choices.

Also with the free thinker part, I mean I agree for me personally I enjoy listening/researching other peoples beliefs even if they don't fall in line with mine. I think it's good to understand where people come from and why they feel the way they do, but I also understand that not everyone agrees with that. I mean Kyrie is technically a free thinker also, yet the general consensus about Kyrie is that he's crazy.

[Bergmaniac]

"Free thinker", LMAO. The guy is a textbook fundie.

[VFX]

Haven’t watched this yet but man… JI is making the rounds….

Watch on YouTube

I was surprised to see him on Timcast. Pretty big show.

[tiderulz]

No, I think Isaac is widely respected.

Sent from my SM-G950U using RealGM Forums mobile app

disagree with this. players respect players and Isaac hasnt played in 2 years. and its not like he is a multiple year all-star or anything. he is just another employee on the team.

I think he's respected because he's a free thinker. 95% of the NBA couldn't tell you who the Attorney General is. When he stood all I heard was support for him from other players.

Sent from my SM-G950U using RealGM Forums mobile app

you can support a person without "widely respecting" them

[swarlesbarkley]

No, I think Isaac is widely respected.

Sent from my SM-G950U using RealGM Forums mobile app

disagree with this. players respect players and Isaac hasnt played in 2 years. and its not like he is a multiple year all-star or anything. he is just another employee on the team.

I think he's respected because he's a free thinker. 95% of the NBA couldn't tell you who the Attorney General is. When he stood all I heard was support for him from other players.

Sent from my SM-G950U using RealGM Forums mobile app

It's funny - you say he's a "free thinker" while others would call him brainwashed by religion.

Him standing in the bubble was basically an "all lives matter" approach to the situation which is a very surface-level understanding of the situation. IMO he was thinking the least critically about the scenario even if it made him stand out (pun intended).

[basketballRob]

disagree with this. players respect players and Isaac hasnt played in 2 years. and its not like he is a multiple year all-star or anything. he is just another employee on the team.

I think he's respected because he's a free thinker. 95% of the NBA couldn't tell you who the Attorney General is. When he stood all I heard was support for him from other players.

Sent from my SM-G950U using RealGM Forums mobile app

It's funny - you say he's a "free thinker" while others would call him brainwashed by religion.

Him standing in the bubble was basically an "all lives matter" approach to the situation which is a very surface-level understanding of the situation. IMO he was thinking the least critically about the scenario even if it made him stand out (pun intended).

Him standing in the bubble was him not agreeing with everything that BLM has done in the past. You must not have listened to his reason.

Sent from my SM-G950U using RealGM Forums mobile app

[swarlesbarkley]

I think he's respected because he's a free thinker. 95% of the NBA couldn't tell you who the Attorney General is. When he stood all I heard was support for him from other players.

Sent from my SM-G950U using RealGM Forums mobile app

It's funny - you say he's a "free thinker" while others would call him brainwashed by religion.

Him standing in the bubble was basically an "all lives matter" approach to the situation which is a very surface-level understanding of the situation. IMO he was thinking the least critically about the scenario even if it made him stand out (pun intended).

Him standing in the bubble was him not agreeing with everything that BLM has done in the past. You must not have listened to his reason.

Sent from my SM-G950U using RealGM Forums mobile app

From the presser immediately after:

"Everyone is made in the image of god and we all share in god's glory"
"Sometimes it gets to a point where we point fingers as to who's evil is worse"
"Racism isn't the only thing in our society that plagues our world"
"We all fall short of god's glory"

... aka all lives matter. It's not deep. It's glossing over the actual issue. It's funny - he never mentioned how standing actually helps black lives but he was pretty adamant that kneeling and wearing a t-shirt didn't help. Neither act "helps" on the micro but one for sure distracted from the actual issue (police brutality) while trying to turn the issue into something to do with religion (aka "everyone has an opportunity to have a relationship with jesus").

[dc]

Him standing in the bubble was him not agreeing with everything that BLM has done in the past. You must not have listened to his reason.

I'm cool with him standing (as were all the players), but when it came to his reason, Isaac started getting into religion and it seemed like a pretty jumbled explanation.

Ultimately it doesn't really matter to me as I think even having a national anthem to start sporting events is pretty silly anyways, but I wouldn't go so far as to call Isaac some intellectual dude. He's just a religious fundamentalist and his logic when explaining his stance on things is always going to circle back to his religion.

[swarlesbarkley]

Him standing in the bubble was him not agreeing with everything that BLM has done in the past. You must not have listened to his reason.

I'm cool with him standing (as were all the players), but when it came to his reason, Isaac started getting into religion and it seemed like a pretty jumbled explanation.

Ultimately it doesn't really matter to me as I think even having a national anthem to start sporting events is pretty silly anyways, but I wouldn't go so far as to call Isaac some intellectual dude. He's just a religious fundamentalist and his logic is always going to circle back to his religion.

What were his teammates going to do? It's like when your grandma makes her terrible green bean casserole for Thanksgiving and asks if you like it. You don't say it's crap - you just eat a little of it and say it's great like everyone has done for 50 years.

[basketballRob]

It's funny - you say he's a "free thinker" while others would call him brainwashed by religion.

Him standing in the bubble was basically an "all lives matter" approach to the situation which is a very surface-level understanding of the situation. IMO he was thinking the least critically about the scenario even if it made him stand out (pun intended).

Him standing in the bubble was him not agreeing with everything that BLM has done in the past. You must not have listened to his reason.

Sent from my SM-G950U using RealGM Forums mobile app

From the presser immediately after:

"Everyone is made in the image of god and we all share in god's glory"
"Sometimes it gets to a point where we point fingers as to who's evil is worse"
"Racism isn't the only thing in our society that plagues our world"
"We all fall short of god's glory"

... aka all lives matter. It's not deep. It's glossing over the actual issue. It's funny - he never mentioned how standing actually helps black lives but he was pretty adamant that kneeling and wearing a t-shirt didn't help. Neither act "helps" on the micro but one for sure distracted from the actual issue (police brutality) while trying to turn the issue into something to do with religion (aka "everyone has an opportunity to have a relationship with jesus").

Yes, he believed some members of BLM were racist. He believes racism by anyone is wrong.

Sent from my SM-G950U using RealGM Forums mobile app

[Xatticus]

disagree with this. players respect players and Isaac hasnt played in 2 years. and its not like he is a multiple year all-star or anything. he is just another employee on the team.

I think he's respected because he's a free thinker. 95% of the NBA couldn't tell you who the Attorney General is. When he stood all I heard was support for him from other players.

Sent from my SM-G950U using RealGM Forums mobile app

It's funny - you say he's a "free thinker" while others would call him brainwashed by religion.

Him standing in the bubble was basically an "all lives matter" approach to the situation which is a very surface-level understanding of the situation.

Isaac is free to do as he pleases. That's not the issue. That doesn't mean that what he does do doesn't adversely impact the Orlando Magic. We are already the Amway Magic, so his actions aren't going to write the script, but they can reinforce opinions. Would a player avoid Orlando because of this perception? I don't know. I'm certain that other organizations will play that card when it behooves them to do so though.

I have two significant concerns with the Isaac situation:

Firstly, I'm very bothered by the fact that he missed the entirety of this season. As the season approached, I was genuinely looking forward to seeing him on the floor this year, perhaps more than any other player on the roster (rookies included). Shortly before the season started, we got some indication that he was further away than Fultz. While that wasn't all that telling as to when either player would return, it was an indication that he wasn't that close. I was hoping he would return several weeks into the season. How naive that was. If I were a season ticket holder and he missed the entirety of the year, I'd be very displeased that the organization wasn't more candid about his situation. This is on the front office. The lack of transparency really bothers me.

Secondly, his time frame for recovery is well beyond normal. I've been through a knee injury. I've done the rehab. I've had to measure the strength of the injured leg against the strength of the other leg. My recovery took longer than normal as well, but Isaac is nearly a year behind schedule already. That's not a good thing regardless of how you look at it. His muscles aren't recovering strength at a normal rate. I don't know what to attribute it to. It might be on the staff. It might be on Isaac. It might just be genetics. Regardless of what the cause is, it is a problem, especially for a guy that gets hurt with some regularity. Injuries are part and parcel of being a professional athlete. If a sprained ankle is going to wipe out the better part of a year, then there really isn't much hope that we are ever going to get value from that contract. I'd get out from under it if I could.

I will add... Isaac really isn't a part of this team at this point. Almost nobody on this roster has actually shared the floor with him.

Ross 1,157 minutes
Fultz 690 minutes
Bamba 309 minutes

That's the entire list of players that were on this roster the last time Isaac actually played and their total floor time with Isaac. Isaac is going to have to work his way into this team if and when he gets healthy. Then we have to hope and pray that he stays that way.

[RichCollab]

Haven’t watched this yet but man… JI is making the rounds….

Watch on YouTube

I was surprised to see him on Timcast. Pretty big show.

I’m good with Jonathan and his approach. I find it easy to respect the man and at the same time disagree. He did stand up at points.

The host and cohost are political and use it in a way that’s very polarizing. Left and Right do it.

[thelead]

I finally got around to watching his portion… his positions are fine IMO. The only egregious things so far, is allowing himself to be used by groups that support Qanon. There is no defending that. Don’t care what ‘side’ you’re on.