Relatable with Allie Beth Stuckey - August 02, 2023


Ep 849 | Responding to Candace Owens & Andrew Tate | Guest: Jonathan Isaac


Episode Stats

Length

31 minutes

Words per Minute

190.90909

Word Count

5,957

Sentence Count

373

Misogynist Sentences

4

Hate Speech Sentences

11


Summary

Jonathan Isaac is a forward for the Orlando Magic, a Christian and author, and has just launched a new brand called Unitas, a values-based sports and apparel company. And so we are going to talk to him about that, also his faith journey, and all that good stuff. This episode is brought to you by Good Ranchers.


Transcript

00:00:00.000 Andrew Tate and Candace Owens sat down and my name came up. So I'm going to respond to that
00:00:07.060 little bit of their conversation. Also, we have a friend here. We have Jonathan Isaac. He is a
00:00:12.760 forward for the Orlando Magic, a Christian and author, and he has just launched a new brand
00:00:18.340 called Unitas. It's a values-based sports and apparel company. And so we are going to talk
00:00:23.420 to him about that, also his faith journey, all that good stuff. This episode is brought to you
00:00:27.680 by our friends at Good Ranchers. Go to GoodRanchers.com. Use code Allie at checkout. That's
00:00:32.200 GoodRanchers.com, code Allie. Hey guys, welcome to Relatable. Happy Wednesday. All right, two very
00:00:47.120 different parts of this episode. My interview with Jonathan Isaac, who is amazing, about his new brand
00:00:53.680 and just about his faith and fatherhood journey and all of that will be coming up. But first,
00:00:57.680 I wanted to respond to something that I've been meaning to respond to for the past few days.
00:01:01.380 But as always, there's just so much to talk about. Andrew Tate and Candace Owens, they had a sit-down
00:01:06.860 conversation and they mentioned my name as well as my friend Liz Wheeler's name because we were two
00:01:14.900 people that were criticizing Andrew Tate after he had the interview with Tucker Carlson. And a lot of
00:01:22.320 videos were circulating from several years ago where he is talking about convincing women to fall in love
00:01:30.420 with him, have sex with him so that they will do webcam work for them. And also talked about lying to
00:01:39.380 them, about how much they were actually going to get paid, about tax forms and things like that.
00:01:47.100 And so we talked about that at length a couple of weeks ago. We did two episodes. One episode was a
00:01:52.840 very thorough explanation. And I worked really hard to make sure that the clips that I had that I knew
00:01:59.020 as much context as possible. There were several incriminating clips that I could have played of
00:02:04.200 Andrew Tate that I didn't because I didn't know all of the context of them. So I won't rehash all of
00:02:10.720 those. I have my criticisms of Andrew Tate based on what he has said. Ten years ago, five years ago,
00:02:17.780 he has not ever come forward and say, I regret doing that. That was wrong to do. In fact, at the
00:02:23.920 beginning of this Candace Owens interview, he says, I don't apologize for things. I did what I did. I had
00:02:29.420 a hard upbringing and, you know, whatever. Obviously, I take issue with that. And I take issue with the
00:02:37.260 things that he said, with the things that he's done. I'm not weighing in on whether or not he is
00:02:42.660 guilty of the Romanian charges that are before him. I am weighing in on whether or not he is a moral
00:02:49.580 exemplar and a man for young men to follow. And if you go back and listen or watch on YouTube,
00:02:55.820 I was extremely fair. I laid out the case for why he is so appealing to young men. The things that he
00:03:04.420 has said that are very true, that are very uniquely true, that are interesting, that are compelling.
00:03:10.400 I'm not someone who has just said, I just don't get this. I don't see where he's coming from at all.
00:03:15.800 No, he has said true things. He has said right things. And I see his appeal to young men and why
00:03:22.640 some young men may be flocking to Andrew Tate and his message. However, you know, moral issues.
00:03:28.600 So I laid out my case there. And I think that I was as fair as possible, certainly as honest as
00:03:34.520 possible. And Liz Wheeler, I haven't seen all of her critiques of Andrew Tate, but she has done a
00:03:40.200 very similar thing, has been very strong. She was blocked by Andrew Tate because of her strong stance
00:03:46.840 against him, which, of course, I agree with Liz on the things that she's saying. And, you know, then
00:03:53.040 Andrew Tate has to sit down with Candace Owens, which as much as I don't like the kind of like
00:03:58.900 morality that and the so-called virtues that he has pushed over the years and the things that he's
00:04:06.860 done over the years, I don't at all fault Candace Owens for sitting down with him. I get a lot of
00:04:11.460 messages saying, oh, this is so bad. Like, how dare she give him a platform? What do you think about
00:04:17.700 her talking to him? Like, I don't really buy that. As someone who is also in the interviewer seat,
00:04:23.700 very often, like, you talk to the people who are interesting. You talk to the people who other
00:04:31.120 people want to hear from. You talk to big names, whether or not you agree with them. Now, maybe
00:04:36.320 you don't platform the little guy who no one knows about and is just like evil and terrible and
00:04:41.940 shouldn't be given a larger platform, but he already has a huge platform. If Andrew Tate agreed to sit
00:04:47.760 down and talk with me, yes, I would talk with him. So I don't blame Candace at all for,
00:04:52.820 for having this interview and for talking with him, talking with him or Tucker for that matter.
00:04:59.100 Like, yes, you take the Andrew Tate interview because, wow, there's so much to talk about.
00:05:03.600 And they had a three hour long conversation. I didn't listen to the whole thing. There were
00:05:06.740 definitely things that I disagreed on, like really within the first few minutes. I really disagreed
00:05:13.760 with the things that I like. Oh, my gosh. I had to like pause and really think about it. But it was
00:05:19.700 an incredibly interesting and wide ranging conversation, even though, gosh, I just disagree
00:05:26.980 with him so adamantly on so many different things and his moral reasoning. Oh, my goodness.
00:05:31.920 Um, but someone told me because I didn't get to this part myself yet. Someone was like, oh,
00:05:37.180 did you see the part of the interview where your name and Liz Wheeler's name is mentioned?
00:05:41.200 Um, and so I wanted to watch it and then I wanted to respond to it a little bit.
00:05:46.300 I think what I will actually I want to get to what your belief in is in terms of when you start
00:05:51.860 talking about the Matrix, because I will say I some of the people that have been going after you,
00:05:56.440 Liz Wheeler obviously has been one of them. Ali Suckey has talked a lot about it. I know
00:06:00.060 these young women. They're not a part of the Matrix. OK, I have a lot of disagreements with
00:06:04.960 them. Stylistically, we have disagreements. Ali's a is a means what she says. Even if I
00:06:10.680 disagree with her point, I know she means she said it's not an act for her. She's not trying
00:06:13.720 to do anything. She says it because she believes it. I don't say this to insult Liz or anyone else.
00:06:18.480 I don't know them enough or respect them enough to give a what they made or what they say.
00:06:23.040 I don't care. However, I don't believe it was well intentioned. I think that there is certainly
00:06:30.860 a degree of jealousy that came with my massive influence in the number of views I got in the
00:06:34.780 Tucker Carlson show. I think that the fact that 10 year old videos, which have been debunked 30
00:06:40.920 times and now coming up again is not well intentioned at all. But I can't be entirely
00:06:47.480 sure of that. So I can't comment specifically on their attacks because I haven't watched their attacks
00:06:51.900 Oh, no. Andrew Tate doesn't respect me. Oh, no. The pimp and hose degree guy. He doesn't give me
00:07:01.160 his respect. I'm so sad. Look, I the reason why I talked about Andrew Tate is because I see some
00:07:09.940 people flocking to him and thinking that he is a good example for young men. And my point is that he's
00:07:15.800 not. I mean, I'm a Christian. This is a Christian show. He doesn't claim to be a Christian. So I never
00:07:20.000 said he's a bad Christian or he doesn't live up to, you know, what I think he should be as a Christian
00:07:25.500 man, because I don't think he's a Christian. I know he's not a Christian. He's a Muslim.
00:07:30.120 And so I'm not expecting him to be Christlike. But I'm saying to my Christian audience, just because
00:07:36.580 someone says something that is true, doesn't mean they should be looked to. Doesn't mean they should
00:07:43.240 be worshipped, of course, doesn't mean they should be admired. You take everything that anyone says,
00:07:48.660 but especially someone like that who has admitted to manipulating girls for money, using sex and using
00:07:56.700 fraud with a grain of salt. Now, again, if he had repented of these things, if he had apologized for
00:08:03.340 these things and said, that is so not me anymore. That is, I would never pimp girls out on webcam.
00:08:09.840 Like, I would never I would never do that again. Wow, that was so dumb. I did what I thought I had
00:08:15.280 to do and I should have. OK, that's one thing. But as far as I can see, even in this interview,
00:08:19.480 there is no regret, no remorse, no repentance whatsoever in that. So, yes, I stand by everything
00:08:24.820 that I said. I'm not going to rehash everything, but go back and listen or listen to or watch last
00:08:29.840 week's episode. We'll include the links of the videos. People have responded to his videos,
00:08:35.300 his self-snitching videos at length with full context. And like you would have to tell me what
00:08:42.260 context helps some of the things that he has said. There again, there are some things that I did not
00:08:48.300 play because I was like, nope, I don't know the full context. He could have been kidding there.
00:08:54.460 I'm not really sure. So there were plenty of things that I did not play because I was like, I'm not
00:09:00.200 completely sure if I know what he's saying. The only things I played was like, OK, there's no amount of
00:09:05.080 greater context that could help what he said, what he said about women, what he said about fraud,
00:09:09.480 what he said about making money, what he said about essentially grooming and essentially what
00:09:14.260 would be trafficking these women. Again, not speaking to the Romanian charges. I hope that
00:09:19.540 justice comes down on his side if he is not proven beyond a reasonable doubt guilty. Like,
00:09:26.140 I hope that justice truly prevails on the side of truth.
00:09:35.080 Yeah, he's going to incriminate my motives because he thinks that everyone who criticizes
00:09:45.760 him is a part of the matrix. The matrix is basically made up of a bunch of different bad actors who were
00:09:51.140 trying to keep people silent and slovenly and weak and all of that. But look, not everyone who
00:09:56.180 criticizes you is a part of this grand scheme. Not everyone who criticizes you is badly intentioned.
00:10:01.080 That's true for me. That's true for everyone. A lot of people are, but not everyone. Like,
00:10:06.260 have some humility to realize, and we all do, not just Andrew Tate, that some people have
00:10:11.680 legitimate critiques of the things that you have said. And especially when it comes to him,
00:10:15.900 like he's made it really easy. And yeah, those were the first time we saw those clips. If I had
00:10:20.500 seen those clips 10 years ago and I had been in this business 10 years ago rather than being like
00:10:25.660 a sophomore in college, then maybe I would have said something about it. But I didn't know.
00:10:29.960 I didn't even know who Andrew Tate was until a year or so ago. And as for the jealousy piece,
00:10:35.400 do you think that we don't know? Do you think that I don't know that he has
00:10:38.700 a huge platform, a way bigger platform than I do? There's nothing there. There's nothing. Trust me.
00:10:47.620 Trust me. Looking at Andrew Tate's life, there is nothing that he has that I desire. I am very
00:10:52.860 content and thankful for the life that God has given me. And so again, not everyone who criticizes you
00:10:59.500 is badly intentioned. Not everyone who criticizes you is just jealous. Some people, yeah, sure. Of
00:11:07.600 course, there are going to be people like that. Not everyone is going to. And I'm glad that,
00:11:11.860 you know, Candace brought up, we're not, Liz and I are not a part of the matrix. It's possible to
00:11:17.600 have legitimate criticisms, especially from a Christian moral perspective of a guy who had a
00:11:22.400 course called the PhD course, which stood for the Pimp and Hoes degree course. It's possible to have
00:11:28.080 legitimate negative opinions about that kind of person, believe it or not, without decontextualizing
00:11:33.880 anything. And so, yeah, I guess that's, I guess that's all I have to say about, say about that,
00:11:41.760 say about Andrew Tate. I had no thought that Andrew Tate would like be watching any of my videos. And so
00:11:50.140 the fact, and I, he didn't, I'm sure. But the fact that he would say, oh, you know,
00:11:55.360 they just want to like get at me. They just like want my attention or whatever. Um, whatever he
00:12:00.680 said, I was not for you. I never, uh, intended for you to see my tweets or to watch my videos or
00:12:10.640 to hear what I have to say and care. I'm talking to an audience of Christians and to Christian
00:12:15.520 parents and specifically Christian moms and Christian men too. And just reminding us of the
00:12:22.120 example that we follow and why it's really important to care about the morals and the
00:12:27.780 character of the people that we follow. And I don't think Andrew Tate, even in the very true
00:12:32.180 things that he says is someone that Christian should follow. And I don't expect him to care
00:12:37.000 about that. So there you go. That's my response, Andrew Tate. Um, but you know what? I very interesting
00:12:45.160 interview, very interesting interview and a long ranging interview. And that's not an easy thing
00:12:49.980 to do. I will say that. Um, all right. That's all I got to say about that. Let's get into our much
00:12:56.100 more, um, edifying portion of this episode, uh, with our friend, Jonathan Isaac. Isaac is entering
00:13:05.280 his seventh season as a forward for the Orlando magic. He's from, uh, the Bronx. We've had him on
00:13:12.160 before. We talked to him a couple of years ago, uh, when he was, he stood for the national anthem
00:13:17.120 when everyone was kneeling in the summer of 2020. Uh, also when he defied COVID mandates,
00:13:24.080 uh, vaccine mandates, he came on the show. And so he also came on the show to talk about his book
00:13:30.260 last year. And so he's just, I mean, he's pretty amazing person. And now he's launching this brand
00:13:36.160 of values-based sports and apparel company on August 1st. Um, and so that was yesterday it's
00:13:42.800 launched now, which is super exciting. So he's going to talk about all of that and more
00:13:46.180 in our, uh, in our forthcoming conversation. Uh, before we get into it, let me just pause
00:13:53.140 and tell you about a sponsor.
00:14:06.640 Jonathan Isaac. Thanks so much for joining us again. Okay. Before we get into your brand and
00:14:12.300 everything you have going on, let's talk about the biggest thing you have going on, which I'm
00:14:15.920 guessing is a chronic lack of sleep. Is that correct? Yes. And no, my wife, a trooper has
00:14:24.580 been fantastic. And we have somebody that comes in at like 6 AM. So she gets to get in the bed and
00:14:30.140 sleep. Wow. That's amazing. So you became a dad three months ago to a baby girl, right?
00:14:35.980 Yes. Baby girl, Naomi. Oh, that's so sweet. Tell me a little bit about fatherhood. Like what have you,
00:14:41.840 what surprised you, what has exceeded your expectations?
00:14:47.320 Well, I would say maybe not surprised me, but I remember talking to my, my coach and he was telling
00:14:54.120 me about what you're going to find yourself just leaning over the crib. Like, is she breathing? Like,
00:15:00.820 like just, just standing there watching her, uh, just be. And I was like, okay, you know,
00:15:05.880 I'm sure you've done it before. So, okay, it'll happen. But then I went back to him. I was like,
00:15:09.960 that's absolutely the truth. And I do it to this. And whether she's sleeping and I'm just like,
00:15:15.080 why is she sleeping? Like, can you wake her up? My wife's like, do not wake her up.
00:15:20.620 And so, uh, it's, it's been fantastic though. You don't, you don't know that you can
00:15:24.780 love something like that. Um, it's right there in front of you. And it does really reflect the love
00:15:30.220 of God. Um, cause it's just like, you know, you, they can't do no wrong in your eyes until they get
00:15:34.620 a little older, but, uh, it really is sweet. Yeah. Gosh, your heart expands so much. And you
00:15:40.440 just realized like in that second that you would do absolutely anything for this little child that
00:15:47.980 you just met, like you would die a thousand deaths for them. I mean, the moment that you meet
00:15:52.560 them, really the moment that you know that you're pregnant or that in your case, your wife is pregnant,
00:15:57.420 but especially like that moment that they lay that little baby on your chest, you're like,
00:16:01.720 I would take anyone and anything out for this child. It's really incredible.
00:16:06.480 And the eye contact when they look at you and like, now she's like starting to,
00:16:11.480 like when I walk into a room and she locks eyes with me, she gets that, like, she knows who I am.
00:16:15.600 So it's like, it's, it's so sweet. So sweet. Okay. You've got a lot of other stuff going on too.
00:16:23.200 Unsurprisingly, you've got an apparel company that you announced, uh, recently.
00:16:27.860 Unitas. Tell us a little bit about that.
00:16:31.080 Yeah. Unitas is a values-based sports and apparel company, really an alternative to honestly,
00:16:37.900 a lot of the things that are going on in our, in the marketplace and culture, just where we are
00:16:41.740 as a society and a country. Um, back in 2020, I was a Nike signed athlete. Um, I was getting paid
00:16:47.820 by Nike. I got injured at the time and I didn't resign with them. And from then I started to kind of
00:16:53.240 play with what would it look like to start a full blown sports and apparel company, um, that could
00:16:59.400 give people the freedom to buy with their values. And at the time I was talking about it with my
00:17:03.920 pastor and he was like, you should make your own sneaker. And I'm like, I don't know what that even
00:17:09.860 means. Like, how do you, how do you do that? And I started to go down the road and, um, you know,
00:17:14.000 he came up with the name and it was just, we just kind of ran with it, Unitas. And, uh, now we're
00:17:19.340 ready to launch. And, uh, I'm not sure if this is going to come out when it's already launched,
00:17:23.300 but if so, um, I'm just super excited about everything that's going on.
00:17:27.620 Yeah. It launches eight one and we're recording this in late July. So we're going to try to get
00:17:32.600 it out right around, um, when it launches, but tell us a little bit more about the name Unitas.
00:17:38.880 You see it as, uh, you've set a promotion of free speech, um, to promulgate the nation's
00:17:44.920 founding principles in a time of rampant progressive ideology. So talk a little bit more about that.
00:17:50.620 Yeah, there are, there are values that are important to me, um, that I try my best to
00:17:56.840 live out each and every day. And Unitas is founded on three of them that are extremely important. And
00:18:02.200 the first one is faith. The second one is family. And the third one is freedom. And as I look out into
00:18:07.320 our culture, um, especially in the sportswear and apparel space, a lot of these companies are
00:18:13.120 moving farther and farther away from these values and ideologies, um, foundational family values,
00:18:18.500 um, constitutional values that I think are, are important, um, and have value to a prosperous
00:18:24.660 society. And so we live in America and they're free to do so. And, but at the same time, we're
00:18:30.080 free to create an alternative. So that's what Unitas was about for me from the beginning.
00:18:33.520 Can I, can I create something that's high quality that, that people can truly love, but at the end of
00:18:39.080 the day, give people encouragement and confidence that their values are valid. And if they're not going
00:18:43.920 to be celebrated by other people in the marketplace and culture, then we can celebrate them ourselves.
00:19:00.360 This seems to be something that a lot of the entrepreneurial and industrious people are doing
00:19:04.940 right now. They're kind of creating this parallel economy because I mean, people like me, I'm sure
00:19:09.900 people like you too, I mean, you, you do feel hated by a lot of the places that you spend your
00:19:14.580 money. You feel hated by a lot of the artists that you like, by a lot of the athletes that you
00:19:18.900 cheer for a lot of the companies that you faithfully spent money at for the past, you know, 10 years.
00:19:24.800 One of my favorite places that I used to shop that I don't anymore was anthropology. They make great
00:19:30.020 women's clothing. And then they used a man to model one of their dresses. And I'm like, okay,
00:19:34.600 obviously the faithfulness of a lot of their customer base just doesn't matter. So people
00:19:41.420 really are looking to be represented by brands and spend their money at companies that don't
00:19:48.080 force them to compromise their values. I think that's really important.
00:19:53.280 And it means something like, yeah, from the beginning, it was like, you know, there used to be a time where
00:19:59.020 what people at a company or what a company believed about society, about religion, about
00:20:07.400 politics, it didn't matter. They just wanted to deliver a great product, but the times have changed
00:20:13.080 and it does matter because a lot of these companies and corporations are using those funds to undermine
00:20:18.520 the fabric of our society and to progress things that, that I believe are harmful to us. And so being
00:20:25.100 able to create something that, that, that people can have the freedom to buy with their values and
00:20:30.180 say, I want to stand with a company that I know is going to support my values, um, that is going
00:20:34.500 to be transparent about what it is that they believe. That's what I'm trying to accomplish with
00:20:38.040 Unitas. And I also feel like we, we are going to get to a place in society where it's like,
00:20:43.100 if you don't believe these set of things, you can't shop here. You can't do this. You can't,
00:20:47.900 you can't go here. And if there aren't alternatives for people to turn to, um, like you're talking
00:20:53.120 about that, that parallel economy, then the only answer is going to be to conform.
00:20:57.440 Yeah. Yeah. You're so right about that. So you really have kind of leaned into a lot of the
00:21:03.520 good and bad responses that you got from not kneeling for the anthem a couple of years ago.
00:21:10.700 Of course, we had you on the show. We talked about that, um, at the time, at the height of kind
00:21:16.060 of like the BLM virtue signaling, and then also resistance to the vaccine mandates. You know,
00:21:23.260 a lot of people would just say, all right, I gained your, your goal wasn't to gain media attention,
00:21:28.800 but I gained media attention from that. Now I'm just kind of going to go quietly into the night,
00:21:33.700 make sure that no one's paying attention to what I'm doing, but I've really seen you use the platform
00:21:37.760 that God has given you to lean into that courage and to try to make that courage contagious for other
00:21:44.320 people. You wrote a book, I stand, and that's what you encourage people to do to stand up for these
00:21:49.780 values that you believe in, even when you get backlash for it. Do you see this brand is kind
00:21:54.840 of a part of that journey that God has put you on since then? Absolutely. From the beginning, um,
00:22:01.820 of standing in the bubble, it was something that I was terribly afraid to do. And honestly,
00:22:07.080 everything that I have, you know, had to walk through, um, that God has graced me to walk through,
00:22:11.880 even though they were extremely challenging. Um, and they were, I was, I was terrified,
00:22:15.640 but as I've, as I've grown up and as I've, I've, again, uh, also pointed to the people that I have
00:22:21.640 around me, um, the pastor that I talked about is somebody that I'm, I'm always talking to. He's
00:22:25.680 always, um, giving me feedback and just, and just how to become better. My family, my wife, um, people
00:22:31.800 that keep me encouraged and moving forward. But the more that I've walked through these storms and also,
00:22:36.920 um, gotten the feedback from people who say, you know what, because of what you did, I now have
00:22:42.920 the courage and want to figure out how I can stand in my everyday life. It has emboldened me and
00:22:48.040 encouraged me to, to continue to do so. And when I talk about, I want people, because I know what it
00:22:54.100 feels like to stand alone. I know what it feels like to be in a situation where you're the only one
00:22:57.520 who believes something, but the more that we're able to congregate in a community and say,
00:23:02.720 my beliefs are valid and I should take pride in them. And if somebody else isn't going to,
00:23:08.280 then I can do so myself. And there is the fear of backlash. There is the fear of what people will
00:23:12.540 have to say, but when it's just one person is one thing, but when there's a community of people who
00:23:17.440 believe the same thing, no matter what you look like, white, black, indifferent, when you understand
00:23:21.900 the necessity and value of these values and come together, you know, we can create real, real change
00:23:27.940 and just stand up for what we want to believe in. And that's why a brand like this is important
00:23:31.920 because maybe you, you are in a place, you're on a college campus or with your family and your
00:23:36.800 friends where you are the only person who believes what you do. While having a brand like this is just
00:23:42.360 a reminder, if nothing else, of course, it's going to be high quality clothing and it's going to look
00:23:46.820 good and we'll put up pictures as we're talking, but it's also a reminder every time you look at that
00:23:51.880 brand that I'm not alone, that I'm not standing by myself. I'm, it might feel like I'm standing by
00:23:56.920 myself, but there are other people that share my values. And that's, that's a big deal. When people
00:24:02.220 ask me, what's your advice for like an incoming freshman in college or someone moving to a new
00:24:07.260 city, I'm like immediately find people who are like-minded because it's a reminder to you that
00:24:13.560 you're not crazy, that it's okay to swim upstream. We talk a lot on this show about being like human
00:24:20.020 salmon and standing out from the crowd. It's so it's okay, but it's easier to do that when you
00:24:26.460 have someone else that is linking arms with you. I think this brand and clothing brands like this,
00:24:31.880 it's just a way to link arms with people across the country and remember that you're not really alone.
00:24:38.160 That is the biggest thing about Unitas. Like you said, it's one thing about clothes. It's one thing
00:24:42.380 about, you know, launching something. But for me, it is about creating that community across all these
00:24:47.780 different lanes in our society. There's the sports, there is the college campus, there's the high
00:24:53.100 school, there's the parents that want to buy things for their kids that they know support their values.
00:24:57.280 There's the kids that love sports and just, or just want super cool leisure wear to wear around
00:25:01.600 the house or wear to the airport or things like that. And so for me, it is about that community
00:25:05.760 piece. I want people to know that there are people out there that agree with them, that believe
00:25:09.780 like them, and also to show the diversity of thought that there are people who come from a million
00:25:15.360 different backgrounds. I remember I was recently in Nashville and my Uber driver, he was like,
00:25:22.060 you were the guy that stood, you know, for the national anthem. And I agree with you. I agree
00:25:27.340 with who you are. And he said he came over here from Iran. Wow. Like, I love this country and I've
00:25:34.380 grinded and I've worked and I've been able to build a life for myself and my family here. And so there are
00:25:41.340 people from all different backgrounds that look completely different, but who understand
00:25:44.900 the necessity of these values and want to see them celebrated in the marketplace and culture.
00:25:49.540 And that is a, that's why I want to do this.
00:26:03.720 So you've suffered over the past few years from, um, a few injuries, which I'm sure have felt like
00:26:09.840 setbacks. I'm sure have been really difficult for you as someone who has worked so hard to get to the
00:26:14.020 point that you have in your athletic career. Talk about how you've navigated that through your faith
00:26:21.080 and maybe how, I don't know if creating this brand has also been made possible by some of those
00:26:25.980 difficulties that you've experienced with injuries and things like that. But just talk about how that's
00:26:30.300 been a part of your testimony and even a part of this new stage of developing a new brand.
00:26:35.100 Yeah, it's, it's been, it's been, it's been hard. It's been difficult. Um, but I've also,
00:26:42.920 I feel like I've learned so much about God. I've, I've learned so much about the necessity for
00:26:48.500 community, the necessity for people around you to be strong for you when you can't be strong for
00:26:54.060 yourself. Um, again, talking about like my pastor and my wife and my church family here that have,
00:26:59.800 um, stood with me during everything and have helped me to walk through these storms.
00:27:03.840 And then again, just learning about God, it's like, you don't know God to be faithful until you
00:27:09.860 need him to be. It's like, you know, God talks about all these different attributes that he is.
00:27:13.740 He's faithful. He's, he's just, he's loving, he cares. Um, he's not just the God of the hills,
00:27:18.520 but a God of the valleys, but you don't know that until you go through something. And so to be able to
00:27:24.040 experience the side of God that says, I am with you, even though you're going through something you
00:27:28.680 don't understand, even though you don't know why it happened or why I allowed it, I am with you.
00:27:33.840 And I love you and you're chosen and all these different things. But I had to go through, um,
00:27:38.300 these different things to learn. And another aspect of it is you're able to identify with
00:27:42.960 people. It's like, if you never go through any struggle, if you never go through any pain,
00:27:47.480 how can you identify with a world that's full of it? And so being, having gone through these,
00:27:52.520 you know, these tough times of injuries and things that have happened to me, I've been able to identify
00:27:57.480 with other guys around the league who have gotten injured. And just, and just what is,
00:28:01.400 for somebody to look at me and saying, well, like, what has happened to you? You're,
00:28:04.200 you're a millionaire, you're a basketball player. What do you know about struggle? What do you know
00:28:07.200 about, um, trusting God, um, in these moments? And I can reflect and look at it in my life and say,
00:28:12.360 you know what? I've had several instances where I was upset and angry and mad at God about what
00:28:17.680 happened, but I kept my faith and I trusted in him and he's seen me through. And to your point,
00:28:23.240 a lot of the downtime that I have had through these, you know, different things has allowed me to do
00:28:28.120 the things that I've done, write the book, why I stand, um, create, you know, unites. And, uh,
00:28:33.240 now I'm, I'm fully healed. I'm ready to come back, uh, this upcoming season.
00:28:37.640 Yes. And amen. Well, it's amazing how God uses those difficulties to accomplish the things that
00:28:43.140 he wants to accomplish. I always think about the story of Joseph and Genesis, obviously terrible
00:28:48.540 things happened to him. He was thrown into a pit, sold into slavery, and then God used that
00:28:53.460 evil, uh, to then protect Israel, uh, obviously lead Joseph to a place of leadership and then
00:28:59.020 provide for Israel during a time of famine. And something that I read that was pointed out in a
00:29:04.040 book to me several years ago was that that caravan from Egypt that eventually Joseph was sold into
00:29:10.560 to go to a place of slavery was already on its way to Egypt before Joseph was thrown into the pit.
00:29:16.720 So God's providence, God's plan, long-term plan, the conclusion of which we can't even see most days
00:29:24.560 is already in motion before we even understand it. And so I think having that big picture allows us to
00:29:33.160 have faith and have strength in times of mystery, in times of confusion, in times of injury. Um, and
00:29:39.260 it's amazing to see the tangible conclusions that have already come through your difficulty and your
00:29:44.480 trials in this brand. Um, so how can we, Oh, go ahead. Go ahead. I, I, that even speaks to where
00:29:51.520 we are as a whole, when it comes to, you know, our country and just the things that are happening.
00:29:55.960 And it looks like everything is going left. It looks like we're, we're, we're losing ground,
00:30:01.040 but God said he will build his church. And so trusting in the word of God. And even that to add
00:30:06.000 is like how important it is to rely and rest in the word of God. And God said he puts his, his word above
00:30:12.660 his own name, like trusting that, that what he said will come to pass. And so creating something
00:30:17.480 like this, I think is on brand with that message and where we're going as a country, that there are
00:30:22.520 still people standing up. There are still people who believe like you and with you and bringing them
00:30:27.720 together across something like this is, is how we get it done. Yes, absolutely. And so the brand,
00:30:33.200 it launches August 1st or launched depending on when this comes out, but how can, is it unite us?
00:30:40.060 What's the website? The website is weareunitus.com. Weareunitus.com. Yeah, weareunitus and the same
00:30:48.760 for Instagram and Twitter. Okay. Got it. Awesome. So everyone should go ahead and follow on social
00:30:54.400 media, unite us, U-N-I-T-U-S. We'll put it in the description of this episode so people can just
00:30:59.980 link it. Thanks so much, Jonathan, for taking the time and for always sharing your faith. It's
00:31:04.940 really encouraging to me. I really appreciate it. And congrats again on the baby girl.
00:31:10.060 Thank you so much, Allie. Thank you for having me.