NBA Player Jonathan Isaac will launch an ‘anti woke’ line of clothing aimed at supporting conservative values, set to drop in August 2023.
Writing on Twitter the Orlando Magic star, 25, said: ‘retail brands have the freedom to go woke. We have the freedom to create an alternative.’
‘We can be proud of what we believe in. We don’t have to hide or be ashamed of it,’ he told Amala Ekpunobi in a recent Prager U documentary, covering the launch.
Isaac made headlines in 2020 as the first NBA player to stand for the national anthem without wearing a Black Lives Matter warmup shirt, claiming to support the cause but believing that wearing the T-shirt ‘did not go hand in hand with supporting Black lives’.
NBA player Jonathan Isaac speaks about his upcoming ‘anti-woke’ clothing line, UNITUS
He said his clothing line would launch in August 2023 in a post on Twitter on Friday
Orlando Magic’s Jonathan Isaac (1) stands as others kneel before the start of an NBA basketball game against the Brooklyn Nets NBA game Friday, July 31, 2020, in Lake Buena Vista
Isaac spoke to conservative nonprofit and advocacy group Prager U in a documentary titled ‘Unwoke Inc.’
He explained the decision for launching the new brand: ‘UNITUS is a sports and apparel company, and the basis of it for me is freedom.
‘You have companies that are in that field who have made a conscious decision to either attack or undermine Christian values, conservative values, and things like that.
‘And I think they have the free choice to do so, as much as I disagree, but I feel that we also have the freedom to create what we want to create.’
Published May 31, the video saw YouTuber Amala Ekpunobi talk through ‘what is wokeism and where did it come from?’, interviewing leaders and entrepreneurs in different sectors on how politics was seen to have ‘infiltrated nearly every aspect of our culture’.
Ekpunobi looked at the origins of ‘woke culture’ and its perceived influence on Hollywood and media before, she said, ‘sports went woke’.
She recounted how players on the Orlando Magic team decided to collectively kneel during the national anthem in 2020 – except Isaac.
It came amid a series of protests against police brutality that began on May 26 following the murder of 46-year-old George Floyd by Officer Derek Chauvin.
Jonathan Isaac was pictured standing for the anthem and not wearing the pre-game shirt printed with ‘Black Lives Matter’.
After the game he said: ‘I believe that Black Lives Matter… A lot went into my decision … It’s my thought that kneeling while wearing a Black Lives Matter T-shirt doesn’t go hand-in-hand with supporting Black lives.’
Isaac’s first book Why I Stand was published on May 17 last year, touching on his athletic career, politics and Christian faith.
Amala Ekpunobi (left) speaks to Jonathan Isaac about UNITUS for a Prager U documentary
Orlando Magic’s Jonathan Isaac (1) stands as others kneel before the start of an NBA basketball game between the Brooklyn Nets and the Orlando Magic Friday, July 31, 2020
In March, Jonathan Isaac’s dreams of an anticipated comeback from injury were dashed by a torn adductor muscle.
He played in 11 games this season, after missing two and a half years following a serious knee injury and other setbacks.
The Magic did not release a timetable for Isaac’s potential return to basketball activities, but there’s no reason to think he won’t be ready for training camp next fall.
