Jonathan Isaac apparently is one, though he’s also unique.
The Orlando Magic forward has not received the shot and explained his reasoning in a mature fashion — the opposite of someone like LeBron James — during media day, by noting he already had coronavirus.
“Our understanding of antibodies, of natural immunity, has changed a great deal from the onset of the pandemic. And it’s still evolving,” the 23-year-old explained. “I understand that the vaccine would help if you catch COVID and you’d be able to have less symptoms from contracting it. But with me having COVID in the past and having antibodies, with my current age group and physical fitness level, it’s not necessarily a fear of mine.”
“I would say, the craziness of it all, in terms of not being able to say that it should be everybody’s fair choice without being demeaned or talked crazy to, doesn’t make one comfortable to do what said person is telling them to do,” he added. “Loving your neighbors, not just loving those that agree with you or look like you, or move in the same way that you do … it’s loving those that don’t.”
Last summer at the NBA bubble in Florida — which began after the George Floyd riots — NBA players boycotted games and knelt during the national anthem to supposedly protest “racism and police brutality.”
Isaac decided to stand by himself for the anthem, honor his country, and risk public vilification.
“I do believe that Black lives matter, but I just felt like it was a decision that I had to make, and I didn’t feel like putting that shirt on and kneeling went hand-in-hand with supporting Black lives,” he said at the time.
While 90 percent of NBA players are reportedly vaccinated, stars like Bradley Beal, Kyrie Irving, and Andrew Wiggins also remain unvaccinated. The latter two players won’t be able to play their home games in New York City and San Francisco because city edicts mandate all home team employees must be vaccinated.
Sportswriters, as usual, have been condescending, unpersuasive, and bullying.
“The graduates of YouTube University and the brilliant historians who vacillate between favored phrases ‘Tuskegee Experiment’ to ‘Doing my own research’ appear to have very little knowledge of either — it’s just used to shut up opposition, as if they’re picking up a beaker, a syringe and some goggles any time soon,” a Yahoo Sports writer ranted Monday. “But in giving them the platform, we’re giving them what they want. They have access to the greatest doctors in the world and will consult them for anything from the common cold to a torn-up knee, but they have apparently discovered something all the world’s greatest scientists have missed.”
Isaac, a religious man intelligent enough to deliver a church sermon, went against popular opinion last year and this week. One can disagree with his conclusions but maybe the media can respect his outspoken nature and confidence? Nope.