A powerful image emerged from the NBA just before the weekend. During the national anthem of Friday’s game between the Orlando Magic and Brooklyn Nets, one player stood out and the country is thanking him for it. Orlando Magic forward Jonathan Isaac was the first NBA player to stand during the national anthem.
Isaac was the only player on either team that did not kneel. Additionally, he proudly wore his Magic jersey while his teammates wore ‘Black Lives Matter’ shirts. The court of public opinion has spoken, and money talks. After Isaac’s bold stance, the sales of his jersey soared and soared some more.
“As of Sunday, Isaac’s jersey is the second-best seller on the league’s website behind only Los Angeles Lakers superstar LeBron James,” reported Fox News. Kneeling is technically prohibited during the national anthem according to NBA rules, although in the era of so-called social justice NBA commissioner Adam Silver said the rule will not be enforced “under these unique circumstances.”
During his post-game media availability, Isaac explained his actions and credited his faith and the gospel:
“I believe that Black Lives Matter. A lot went into my decision, and part of it is, I thought that kneeling or wearing the Black Lives Matter t-shirt doesn’t go hand-in-hand with supporting Black lives. So I felt like, just me personally, what is that I believe is taking 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 and kneeling went hand in hand with supporting Black lives…
“I believe that for myself, my life has been supported by the gospel, Jesus Christ, and everyone is made in the image of God and that we all forge through God’s glory. Each and every one of us do things that we shouldn’t do and say things that we shouldn’t say. We hate and dislike things that we shouldn’t hate and dislike, and sometimes it gets to a point where we point fingers, whose evil is worse, and sometimes it comes down to whose evil is most visible…
“So I felt like I wanted to take a stand on, we all make mistakes, but I think that the gospel of Jesus Christ is that there’s grace for us, and that Jesus came and died for our sins and that if we all come to an understanding of that and that God wants to have a relationship with us, that we can get kept all of the things in our world that are messed up, jacked up…
“I think when you look around, racism isn’t the only thing that plagues our society, that plagues our nation, that plagues our world, and I think coming together on that message that we want to get past not only racism but everything that plagues us as a society, I feel like the answer to that is gospel.”
