Basketball star who refused to kneel hopes new clothing line will promote unity

Basketball star Jordan Isaac of the Orlando Magic made headlines when he refused to kneel for the national anthem. Now he is set to release UNITUS, a new clothing line focused on stellar sports apparel and celebrating freedom.

“UNITUS is desperately needed today, because more and more brands in the sports and leisure wear space are abandoning the consumers’ desire for them to be impartial on matters of culture, spirituality and politics,” he says. “Many brands have overtly endorsed harmful and divisive ideologies that have left consumers looking for alternatives.”

Isaac said there’s a profound need for a “hopeful brand bolstered by values of faith in Christ, American freedom and family building. We also have freedom to create what we want to create. The hope is to be able to sign athletes across sports.”

In the end, Isaac wants to create a “real infrastructure of people” across the spectrum who want to “give their money to a company they know is going to work toward bolstering their values.”

And with cultural trends continuing to become more chaotic, Isaac believes people must decide to live out their faith values fully. “As the day continues to get darker and darker and crazier and crazier, you standing up for what you believe in is only going to get harder,” he said. “But is only going to become more necessary.”

Isaac, author of the book “Why I Stand,” said fellow NBA players decided in 2020 to kneel during the National Anthem amid the sea of protest that followed footage of George Floyd’s death. But he decided to chart a different course.

“I was watching what happened to George Floyd and, as tragic as it was, trying to work through what is the best way to respond or if I need to respond at all,” he said. “I was almost forced to because, once we get into the bubble, there is this immense pressure on NBA players to have to kneel for the National Anthem and wear a Black Lives Matter T-shirt.”

Rather than embrace any narrative outside of biblical truth, Isaac said he chose to cling to the gospel and opted not to kneel or wear the BLM shirt. His decision wasn’t rooted in protesting or throwing hate or shade at Black Lives Matter. Instead, he said he wanted to show “the love of Christ.”

–Alan Goforth | Metro Voice