While many past and present NBA players are under contract with a major athletic footwear and sports apparel conglomerate, Jonathan Isaac wears his own brand when he steps on the basketball court.

The Orlando Magic forward founded UNITUS, a faith-forward apparel brand. According to the company’s official website, the brand goes beyond producing premium Christian clothing and footwear, it is “a global movement for positive change.”

“We believe Jesus offers our world a better way, and we boldly stand for our faith in Him. Our mission is to inspire and empower people to live in greater unity, freedom, strength, and purpose.”

“From its inception it’s just been a vision of connecting people to Christ and each other… for it to be a real touchpoint for believers. To have something we are confident in (and) feel great about.”

Isaac cautioned that the company always tries to avoid forcing its values and beliefs on others.

NBA STAR JONATHAN ISAAC WEIGHS IN ON CAITLIN CLARK-ANGEL REESE RIVALRY

“We are not pushing that onto other people, it’s more of an internal thing,” he told Fox News Digital. “A big part about us is… you’re wearing the Scripture on your shoes, on your clothes for you, to remind you of the bigger picture. And then to take that out (into) the world. Being able to take the word of God with me on the court when I’m wearing my basketball sneakers, it’s the same thing… it’s for me internally and at the same time, I get to use it as a witness in front of everybody else. It’s just a medium to do that.”

Magic forward Jonathan Isaac warms up before the game against the Charlotte Hornets at Kia Center in Orlando, Feb. 12, 2025. (Mike Watters-Imagn Images)

Isaac admitted he ended up being “forced” into launching his own sneaker line.

“I was signed to Nike back in 2020 and unfortunately, I got injured… I tore my ACL,” Isaac told Fox News Digital. “Nike had made the decision not to resign me. While I’m going through my rehab process… I actually went and spoke to my pastor… and he told me ‘Why don’t you just make your own sneaker?’”

Isaac’s pastor then challenged him to be at the forefront for active NBA players in the independent sneaker line space. The 27-year-old said creating his own brand gave him creative autonomy.

Jonathan Isaac of the Magic watches during the Atlanta Hawks game at Kia Center on April 8, 2025, in Orlando. (Rich Storry/Getty Images)

“With that freedom to make my own sneaker I could make it completely unique to myself. (I wanted to make) a shoe that demonstrates faith, demonstrates what’s important to me. My middle name is Judah so we (call it) the Judah 1. And every shoe has a visible Bible verse on the outside, and that’s how it started. And it went from that… to an entire brand set around that same sentiment of being able to take the word of God with you everywhere you go.”

Isaac has not shied away from speaking out about his beliefs. However, doing so can often result in backlash. Isaac said he does his best to filter out the negativity.

“The biggest thing for me is spending as little time as I can on social media, especially on X. It gets crazy over there. But, it’s tough (because) sports and a couple of other professions, nobody else in their regular life has as much feedback as we do because we’re playing live, and now you’ve got the parlays and now you’ve got all that other stuff going on.

“Once you play, you’ve got 50 (direct messages) of people saying ‘Oh you messed up this’ or ‘You did great’ or ‘You didn’t do great.’ It’s tough to deal with just as a regular human being. People forget that, people forget you’re human, people forget you’ve got issues (and) you got through stuff just like everybody else.”

Isaac appeared in 71 games in the 2024-25 NBA season. 

Beginning in early June, customers will be able to purchase UNITUS’ new activewear line.

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Tears flowed from Freddie Freeman as he sat in a Dodger Stadium interview room Aug. 5 and described the arduous recovery his 3-year-old son Max was making from a rare neurological condition in which the body’s immune system attacks the nerves.

Max had returned home from a five-night stay at Children’s Hospital Orange County, and Freeman was back in the Dodgers lineup after missing eight games to be with his family during the ordeal.

Two months later, the Dodgers were playing host to the New York Mets in the National League Championship Series. A police officer approached Freeman’s wife, Chelsea, to ask how Max was doing.

The officer, Samuel Riveros of the Baldwin Park Police Department, smiled and handed her a police patch to give to Max.

Riveros was killed Saturday in Baldwin Park when a gunman fatally shot him in the head while Riveros was rushing to the aid of a fellow officer who also had been shot, a law enforcement source with knowledge of the investigation told The Times.

Chelsea Freeman related meeting Riveros on her Instagram Stories and offered her family’s condolences.

“Our hearts are heavy hearing of his passing this week,” she posted. “We met during the Dodgers/Mets playoffs. He came up to me, asked how my son Max was doing and handed me his police patch to give to him.

“A small gesture that meant so much.”

Freddie Freeman was a World Series hero for the Dodgers in 2024, hitting a walk-off grand slam to win Game 1 against the New York Yankees. He is off to a hot start in 2025, currently leading the NL with a .368 batting average.

Riveros had been a Baldwin Park officer since 2016, joined the agency’s SWAT team in 2019, and had recently become a field training officer, which in a statement the agency called a “testament to his leadership and mentorship.”

Riveros was known for his devotion to the Dodgers, even traveling to the stadiums of opposing teams to watch them play, according to Baldwin Park Police Chief Robert A. López.

“Officer Riveros gave his life in service to others, a profound testament to his unwavering dedication to duty and selfless courage,” the Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department wrote in a statement. “His loss is profoundly felt — not only by his family and colleagues, but by the entire Baldwin Park community and law enforcement family.”

Eduardo Roberto Medina-Berumen, 22, was arrested on suspicion of murder and is being held in lieu of $4 million bail, according to the Sheriff’s Department. He lives with his mother at the Baldwin Park home on Filhurst Avenue where gunfire erupted Saturday night, a source said.

“This tragic shooting is a sobering reminder of the danger our first responders face when they answer the call,” Dist. Atty. Nathan Hochman said in a statement.

Veronica Garcia’s state championship is being met with tons of backlash.

Garcia, a senior at East Valley High School in Spokane, Washington, took home the girls’ 400-meter 2A state title on Saturday. Garcia is a transgender female.

Garcia, according to the Seattle Times, was heckled before the race and was booed after it.

But the criticism did not end on Saturday. With students back at school after the weekend, high school girls decided to take matters into their own hands.

Numerous girls from Tumwater High School in Tumwater protested during school hours with a large banner sign that read, “This is not a walk out (sic). We are not going anywhere.”

Other signs read “XX,” “protest female sports” and other similar messages.

The Washington Interscholastic Activities Association (WIAA) issued the following statement to Fox News Digital: “The WIAA continues to proudly represent the 225,000+ student-participants across the state. The Association is aware of the protest by Tumwater HS students.”

The Tumwater girls’ team finished in third place in the meet. Reese Heryford finished in 15th place in a preliminary run for the 400 meters, failing to be in the necessary top eight to qualify for the final.

Garcia said the boos were “expect[ed].”

Demonstrators cheer during the Our Bodies, Our Sports rally for the 50th anniversary of Title IX at Freedom Plaza on June 23, 2022, in Washington, D.C. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)

DEPT OF EDUCATION LABELS JUNE AS ‘TITLE IX MONTH’ IN WAKE OF TRANS ATHLETES WINNING GIRLS’ COMPETITIONS

“I’ll be honest, I kind of expect it,” Garcia told the Seattle Times. “But it maybe didn’t have their intended effect. It made me angry, but not angry as in I wanted to give up, but angry as in I’m going to push.

“I’m going to put this in the most PG-13 way. I’m just going to say it’s a damn shame they don’t have anything else better to do. I hope they get a life. But oh well. It just shows who they are as people.”

Garcia, who ran the race in 55.70 seconds, won by over a full second. That time would have been the slowest by any boy, even in the preliminary rounds. Garcia also won a state championship last year and complained about the lack of sportsmanship from fellow competitors.

Garcia’s victory came roughly a week after the Quilcene School District in Washington voted, 3-2, to keep sports competition based on athletes’ birth gender, a move that defies state law.

The WIAA, enacted in 2007, allows transgender students to participate based on their gender identity.

(Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images/File)

President Donald Trump signed an executive order in February to keep biological boys out of girls’ and women’s sports, but Washington State Superintendent of Public Instruction Chris Reykdal, who once said it would be “inaccurate” to say there are only two genders, said the order defies state law.

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