Jersey sales for NBA player Jonathan Isaac skyrocket after he refuses to kneel for national anthem

NBA jersey sales for Jonathan Isaac of the Orlando Magic surged two days after he declined to kneel for the national anthem.

Isaac, the sixth overall pick in the 2017 NBA draft, was the only player to stand for the national anthem before the Magic’s Friday game against the Brooklyn Nets. His jersey was the second-best-selling jersey in the NBA two days later, trailing only superstar LeBron James, according to Fox 13 Tampa Bay.

The 6’11’’ forward, who played college basketball at Florida State University, also declined to join all other players in wearing a “Black Lives Matter” T-shirt. He instead chose to wear his Orlando Magic jersey and explained after the game that his faith in God inspired him to take a different route than what his teammates chose.

“I felt like I wanted to just take a stand, a stand on it. I feel like we all make mistakes but that the gospel of Jesus Christ is that there’s grace for us and that Jesus came and died for our sins and that if we all come to an understanding of that and understand that God must have a relationship with us that we can get past skin color and we can get past all the things in our world that is messed up and jacked up. I think if you look around, racism isn’t the only thing that plagues our society, that plagues our nation, that plagues our world. And I feel coming together on that message that we want to get past not only racism but everything that plagues us as a society, I feel like the answer to it is the gospel,” he said.

Isaac continued, “Absolutely, I believe that black lives matter. I thought that kneeling while wearing a Black Lives Matter shirt don’t go hand and hand with supporting black lives.”

Isaac has faced criticism for his decision to stand for the national anthem, including from ESPN host Dan Le Batard.

Batard was forced to apologize after he posted a social media post asking his followers if it was “funny” that Isaac tore his ACL during Sunday’s game against the Sacramento Kings and will be unable to play the remainder of this season.

Athletes in Major League Baseball and the National Hockey League have joined NBA players in kneeling for the anthem in support of the “Black Lives Matter” movement. Meanwhile, critics, most notably President Trump, continue to argue airing political grievances in the form of protests during the national anthem is disrespectful.

“People are not happy that players are not standing for our National Anthem!” Trump tweeted Tuesday.