Tag: Religion

You had a Muslim teammate with the …

You had a Muslim teammate with the Orlando Magic in Tariq Abdul-Wahad. Abdul-Wahad once said that former Magic head coach Doc Rivers stopped team prayers before games because it made him feel uncomfortable because they weren’t of the Muslim faith. What do you recall from that and what did you learn? Monty Williams: It didn’t bother me at all because I was not that immature where I couldn’t respect somebody who thought differently or had a different value system or a different religion. And what people didn’t know, Tariq and I were the best teammates, and we were starters at the time. So, we worked together a lot. I respected the heck out of his discipline. He was really disciplined in his faith. And there were times where we would have conversations and we would just agree to disagree, but it was cordial. And I always respected, No. 1, he had game. And, two, I just had a respect for his discipline. But when Doc did that, I totally got it.

Hear Jonathan Isaac explain why he didn’t kneel during the national anthem in his own words

This is a lot.

Almost every player, coach and team personnel member in the NBA knelt during the national anthem throughout the start of the league’s opening weekend on Friday. Players from the four teams that played on Thursday did the same.

The only NBA player who did not take a knee during the national anthem was Orlando Magic forward Jonathan Isaac.

Isaac stuck out like a sore thumb. Not only was Isaac not on his knees, he also chose not to wear the Black Lives Matter warmup shirts the NBA provided and he didn’t wear a social justice message on the back of his jersey.

The picture is absolutely jarring.

Isaac is well within his right to stand for the anthem, not wear the warmup shirt and even to forgo devoting the name on the back of his jersey to a cause he believes in.

That’s what the movement is all about — Black folks having the freedom to choose. He doesn’t have to do any of it.

Where things get tricky, though, is in his explanation of why he didn’t. Isaac was asked by Bleacher Report’s Taylor Rooks why he stood for the anthem instead of kneeling with his teammates. Here’s what he had to say.

“Kneeling or wearing a Black Lives Matter t-shirt didn’t go hand in hand with supporting Black lives…I believe that, for myself, my life has been supported through the Gospel of Jesus Christ and that everyone is made in the image of God and that we all fall short of God’s glory. And that each and every one of us every day do things that we shouldn’t do. We say things we shouldn’t say. We hate and dislike whatever we hate and dislike. And sometimes, we get into pointing fingers.”

That’s a lot. Again, Isaac is well within his right to not participate in these acts of solidarity with his contemporaries.

He’s not the only one who didn’t kneel — neither did Gregg Popovich or Becky Hammon. He’s not the only one who didn’t change the back of his jersey. Neither did LeBron James. They all have their reasons as to why they aren’t.

But Isaac’s explanation uses religion to explain away racism and violence against Black people and people of color across America. And that’s highly questionable.

That’s why Rook’s follow up question was so important.

“I don’t think that kneeling or putting on a t-shirt, for me personally, is the answer. I feel like, for me, Black lives are supported through the Gospel. All lives are supported through the Gospel. We all…have things that we do wrong.” 

There you have it. Make of it what you will.

They could not be there in person, but …

They could not be there in person, but then, in Javie’s current pursuit, in spirit is what really matters anyway. “Use the time now not just to watch things on Netflix or spend idle time on your computer, but to get closer to the Lord,” Javie responded when asked for isolation tips. “Take time with the family, set time aside to read scripture and talk about it. ‘What does it mean?’ “My role is about giving hope, saying ‘trust in the Lord’ and then reconnecting at a time when they’re telling us to disconnect with each other.”