Orlando Magic power forward Jonathan Isaac made headlines a couple of years ago as he refused to kneel for the U.S. national anthem, unlike the rest of his teammates. This led to his jersey sales skyrocketing, putting him second only to LeBron James.
The 24-year-old player talked in the past about his decision to stick to his beliefs and not fall in line with the trend of teams kneeling for the National Anthem. Isaac later wrote a book titled Why I Stand.
Recently he was a guest on Timcast IRL podcast and among topics discussed was his decision not to kneel. Isaac told that he comes from a Catholic family and considers himself a conservative.
Isaac revealed that before the famous game the team decided to kneel because it was viewed as the only thing that should be done. According to him, only a couple of players were active supports of the idea. The rest just fell in line.
When it came to his own decision, he pointed at the fact that the T-shirts and kneeling was in support of an organization “Black Lives Matter” which is against many values that Isaac supports such as God and family.
“Because of the name “Black Live Matter” you forget that it is in support of an organization,” the former first round draft pick said. “Organizations have ethos, they have ideologies. And now you have the same organization going and buying a $6 million house….
“I’m thinking about the organization, I’m thinking about what the organization stands for, I’m thinking about that the organization stands against God, against family and against all these different things. That’s not something that I can support.”
Basketball-wise Isaac continues his rehab from a surgery to repair his torn left ACL and meniscus. He missed the last two seasons, including this year.
