Orlando Magic forward Jonathan Isaac made headlines over the weekend for standing during the national anthem and not wearing a Black Lives Matter shirt. And now, Isaac’s season has come to an end after tearing his ACL in Sunday’s game against the Sacramento Kings. The incident occurred in the fourth quarter when Isaac drove to the lane and did a hop step between two defenders. He then fell to the floor untouched while clutching his left knee.
The Magic won the game but were concerned about Isaac. “That one brought me to tears, and instantly — just because I know how good of a guy J.I. is and how hard he works and how hard he has worked to get back since hurting himself in D.C. That was tough,” Aaron Gordon said via ESPN. Isaac made the decision to stand during the national anthem when all his teammates and coaches took a knee. On Friday, Taylor Rooks of Bleacher Report asked Isaac if he believed Black lives mattered since he didn’t kneel or wear a shirt.
Videos by PopCulture.com
“I believe that Black Lives Matter,” Isaac stated. “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 Gospel, Jesus Christ, and everyone is made in the image of God and that we all forge through God’s glory.”
Isaac continued: “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.” The Magic have not commented on Isaac’s decision to stand but said they support players who kneel during the anthem. Isaac, 22, was drafted by the Magic No. 6 overall in 2017. He played college basketball at Florida State where he was named to the ACC All-Freshman team months before he was drafted.
