{"id":30386,"date":"2023-12-04T10:18:53","date_gmt":"2023-12-04T15:18:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/idolchatter\/?p=30386"},"modified":"2023-12-04T10:18:53","modified_gmt":"2023-12-04T15:18:53","slug":"nba-player-releases-first-basketball-sneakers-with-bible-verses","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/idolchatter\/2023\/12\/nba-player-releases-first-basketball-sneakers-with-bible-verses.html","title":{"rendered":"NBA Player Releases First Basketball Sneakers With Bible Verses"},"content":{"rendered":"<figure id=\"attachment_30392\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-30392\" style=\"width: 768px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><a href=\"https:\/\/wp-media.beliefnet.com\/sites\/87\/2023\/12\/jonathan-isaac-judas-sneaker-credit-unitus-youtube.png\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-30392\" src=\"https:\/\/wp-media.beliefnet.com\/sites\/87\/2023\/12\/jonathan-isaac-judas-sneaker-credit-unitus-youtube.png\" alt=\"jonathan isaac\" width=\"768\" height=\"506\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-30392\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">UNITUS\/YouTube<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Christian NBA player Jonathan Isaac recently released a new line of basketball sneakers with visible Bible verses on the exterior of the footwear. The new footwear, reportedly the first basketball sneakers with Bible verses printed on the back exterior of each pair, features different Bible verses, including 2 Corinthians 4:9 and Romans 8:37.<\/p>\n<p>Isaac announced on X that his new apparel line, UNITUS, released the first JUDAH 1 Triumph in November. The 26-year-old Orlando Magic forward wrote in an X post, \u201cMost people see the \u2018Judah 1\u2019 as an outlandish endeavor. Shoot, when we first started, so did I. I was afraid that delivering a sneaker that represented our values without compromising style or performance was too tall a task. But, here we are; the first basketball sneaker with visible Bible verses becomes available.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Isaac continued, \u201cI tried my best to come up with Bible verses that were important to me and spoke to my journey and spoke to who I am as an individual.\u201d <a href=\"https:\/\/bibleportal.com\/verse-topic?v=2+Corinthians+4%3A9&amp;version=NIV\">Second Corinthians 4:9<\/a>\u00a0reads, \u201cpersecuted, but not abandoned;\u2028struck down, but not destroyed.\u201d\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/bibleportal.com\/verse-topic?v=Romans+8%3A37&amp;version=NIV\">Romans 8:37<\/a>\u00a0states, \u201cNo, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.\u201d In a promotional video, Isaac said his vision for the Scripture-inclusive sneakers was to encourage others \u201cto live boldly,\u201d which he defined as \u201cstanding up for what you believe in.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><iframe title=\"YouTube video player\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/Hs2vlfk0DZo?si=Kt4x-iitdAaJeiWY\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>Isaac said, \u201cWhat would it look like to give people the freedom to wear their values on their feet and just have that freedom to say, \u2018This is who I am. This is what I stand for?\u2019 Making a decision to be authentically you no matter what anybody has to say about it, no matter what anybody thinks; no matter what you may face or come up against.\u201d He hopes the new sneakers will be respected as \u201creal basketball sneakers.\u201d\u00a0He said, \u201cWhen it comes to the on-court performance of the shoe, what I absolutely needed it to be was a real basketball sneaker. It\u2019s robust. It is strong. I\u2019m excited for people to check it out and get their hands on it.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Isaac is outspoken about his beliefs. Also an ordained Christian minister, he made\u00a0headlines\u00a0in 2020 for refusing to kneel during the National Anthem alongside his teammates who were wearing jerseys supporting BLM.\u00a0 Signed initially to Nike as a brand ambassador in 2020, Isaac said he left Nike to launch his\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/weareunitus.com\/\">UNITUS<\/a>\u00a0clothing line, which is described as \u201ca high-quality apparel line that celebrates faith and family values.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Isaac said he knew he had a choice to either complain or create a brand distinct from more liberal-leaning companies.\u00a0He told The Christian Post, \u201cThe conversation has been framed in a way where if you don\u2019t agree with these set values and precepts, then you\u2019re automatically deemed as hateful. It\u2019s not just that you have a different set of opinions; it\u2019s that your opinions, if they are aligned with Christ, they align with family, if they align with traditional values, then you\u2019re seen as a hateful person.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Christian NBA player Jonathan Isaac recently released a new line of basketball sneakers with visible Bible verses on the exterior of the footwear. The new footwear, reportedly the first basketball sneakers with Bible verses printed on the back exterior of each pair, features different Bible verses, including 2 Corinthians 4:9 and Romans 8:37. Isaac announced&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":657,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fbia_status":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[7,10],"tags":[4452,6014],"class_list":["post-30386","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-entertainment","category-sports","tag-jonathan-isaac","tag-judah-1"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.9 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>NBA Player Releases First Basketball Sneakers With Bible Verses<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Jonathan Isaac, a 26-year-old forward for the Orlando Magic, recently released a new line of basketball sneakers with visible Bible verses.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" 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