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Unvaxxed Jonathan Isaac barred from eating with team, NBA slammed for 'segregation'

Jonathan Isaac said he isn't allowed to go to team functions or join his team if its eating at a restaurant

NBA player Jonathan Isaac has spoken out on how he is not allowed to attend team events or eat with his teammates when they go out to grab a meal at restaurants because he is unvaccinated.

Isaac spilled the beans during an interview with the Blaze. When he was asked about the league's strict regulations this season for unvaccinated players and the possibility that he might have to incur a pay cut if the games were played in cities with vaccine mandates since he did not get the Covid-19 shot, Isaac pointed out the lack of logic behind the rules imposed on basketball players. "NBA is free to make those regulations. And you know, as a member of the NBA, I’m going to follow them. But my only point would be, to me, it doesn’t logically follow for us then, to jump on the court, or for me to be at a different locker room than my teammates, but then follow into the same tunnel and to go out to the game. It doesn’t really mean sense," he said. Some of the other NBA players who have recently been in the news include Kevin Love, Chris Livingston, Paul Pierce and LeBron James.

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Jonathan Isaac is NOT an anti-vaxxer

The Orlando Magic player then dished on some of the restrictions that he already has to follow being unvaccinated. "I’m not allowed to go to like team functions. Or if the team is eating in a restaurant, I can’t eat in the same room as them. To me, it just doesn’t logically follow for us then to get on the court together. And then again, for natural immunity to be ignored, and then again, just this, all of this is coming about talking about a virus with such a high survival rate," he said. 

He made it clear that he was not an anti-vaxxer. "I’m not against the vaccine, I think there actually are people who should take it, people who are afraid for either, you know, their health status, their lifestyle, or just, you know what, I want to take this chance, I want to take this step to protect myself further," he said. "If I do come in contact with the virus, again, I’ll be protected. And I want to say if you do come in contact with the virus, not an unvaccinated person... and I think that’s what’s been misconstrued... that if you come in contact with an unvaccinated person, that’s the issue, but it doesn’t matter unvaccinated or vaccinated, you’re going to come in contact with this virus again. It’s not going anywhere. And then it’s your decision to take that step to say you know what, I want this vaccine to help protect me. I hope to protect the people around me, but it should be everyone’s right."

'This used to be called segregation'

After his interview clip went viral on Twitter, people came out in support of Isaac and condemned NBA's vaccine regulations. "This is only going to get worse unless people stop bowing to the government. They are supposed to work for us," one of them said, while another noted, "Ah, I’m old enough to have seen restaurants where certain groups of people could eat with others. Are we going back to that?" A third stated, "Covid is selective .. Covid is not on the court, but only shows up at restaurants and team meetings. Common sense is missing among the so called Elites." The next commented, "It’s all performative. In Israel they’re beginning to understand that natural immunity is superior to any of the vaccines. That’s not to say vaccines don’t work, but the reality is that @JJudahIsaac is most likely better protected than most of his teammates."

A commenter tweeted, "This used to be called segregation..." One more added, "Natural immunity means something..." Another wrote, "Now that’s some Jim Crow shit." A person reacted with, "This needs to end. Leave people to their own choices. #hischoice #hischoicematters." Another chimed in with, "All a vaccine does is preemptively stimulate your natural immune response, so if you've already been sick and recovered there is no point in getting a shot. It's nothing but cultist ritualistic behavior." One more quipped, "Civil rights, anyone? Sounds vaguely familiar."