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