Jonathan Isaac remains the brightest voice of faith and reason in an otherwise hyper-secular NBA.
The Orlando Magic forward released a new Bible-themed shoe in conjunction with his “UNITUS” clothing brand, which he launched in August. Named the “JUDAH 1,” it's believed to be the first shoe with a Bible chapter and verse written on the outside of the design. Students from the University of Central Florida (UCF) contributed creative ideas to the product.
Isaac first got the inspiration for the shoe in 2020, when a pastor suggested that he create his own shoe line instead of signing deals with other companies. At the time, the Magic forward thought it was “ridiculous,” and he never had any intentions of starting his own shoe line.
"That was the original plan," he said. "I'll just wear my own sneakers."
But after seeing how godless America became in just three short years, he followed through with the idea.
“The way that we're heading (in culture and society) is that we're moving away from godly values and principles and also constitutional values and principles," Isaac said.
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That’s where he got the inspiration to start UNITUS, which eventually led to the JUDAH 1 shoe.
"And so my thought process was, what if we could give lovers of God, lovers of country, something that says, ‘Hey, these are our values, this is what we stand for,' and we let the chips fall where they may," he said.
Isaac chose 2 Corinthians 4:9 to be inscribed on the outside, which reads:
“...persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed.”
Isaac knows a thing or two about facing persecution for his beliefs. In 2020, he refused to cave to the anti-America, Black Lives Matter agenda that took our nation by storm that summer. He also refused to kneel for the national anthem in the NBA bubble and didn't take the COVID-19 vaccine. Isaac heroically refused to apologize for any of this.
Now, he’s hoping that his faith and values will draw enough Americans who think like him into making UNITUS sportswear and the JUDAH 1 shoe mainstream products.
"I want to get to the place where we can be a full-fledged in-house one-stop shop," said Isaac, "to get everything you need from leisurewear to sportswear and be able to sponsor universities and high schools."
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