Orlando Magic power forward Jonathan Isaac spoke about the launch of his line of sneakers with Bible verses stitched on the exterior.
In an interview with the Daily Wire, Isaac, 26, spoke about the inspiration behind his new faith-based shoe line called Judah 1, which goes on sale Nov. 16.
“Well, it started back in 2020 – back in the NBA bubble. I got injured, and at the time I was signed to Nike,” he revealed.
Isaac continued, “After I got injured, I wasn’t able to re-sign with them, and I went to my pastor and I told him about my sneaker situation. ‘Hey, you know, I’m not signed with a company anymore’ and he said, ‘You should create your own sneaker, and make it around how you want it.'”
Most people see the “Judah 1” as an outlandish endeavor.. shoot, when we first started, so did I ??♂️
— Jonathan Judah Isaac (@JJudahIsaac) November 14, 2023
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… pic.twitter.com/ErnMkhMtB5
Isaac admitted he thought his pastor was “insane” but decided to give his idea some thought.
“I started to go down the road of what would it look like to create a shoe, and then the idea blossomed into, why just create a sneaker for me, why not see what it would look like to create a sneaker that we could have for everybody, to represent millions of people and the values they align with across our country and across the world?” he explained.
Isaac, who has been bold in his Christian faith, further explained why he decided to incorporate Bible verses into his shoe line.
He shared:
“It was big for me to have a Bible verse on there. My Christian faith is the center stone of my life. And my middle name is Judah, so Judah’s on there and the shoe is lion-inspired with the lion’s mane on the backside and the herringbone on the bottom. I just tried my best to create something that spoke to me aesthetically and had different components that spoke to me in my life.”
Additionally, Isaac gave insight into why he picked certain Bible verses to put on the sneakers and their significance.
“It was just about who I am and what Bible verses went with where I’m at in my point of life. The orange pair has Proverbs 28:1, and that one says, ‘The wicked flee when no one pursues them, but the righteous are as bold as lions.’ And that’s a verse that I’ve tried my best to live by,” he said.
He continued, “As I’ve encountered different moments in my life where I had to stand – going back to the bubble and the whole BLM, COVID – where I didn’t get vaccinated – I was taking a stand and saying, you know what, I think that this is important and I’m going to do it to the best of my ability and do it boldly, trusting that God is with me and God is for me.”