Will Cain Country - Revisiting Jonathan Isaac's Alternative To Modern Sportswear

Episode Date: August 2, 2024

Will is off this week but wanted to revisit his conversation with NBA player Jonathan Isaac who launched an alternative to the modern sportswear companies who prioritize profits and woke values that may not represent those of many Americans. Jonathan's stand on avoiding production in communist countries like China and his embrace of his faith as the cornerstone of his brand have helped launch Unitus as a company you can be proud of supporting. Tune in next Monday for Will's return!   Tell Will what you thought about this podcast by emailing [e-mail] Subscribe to The Will Cain Show on YouTube here: Watch The Will Cain Show! Follow Will on Twitter: @WillCain Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

For a limited time at McDonald's, enjoy the tasty breakfast trio. Your choice of chicken or sausage McMuffin or McGrittles with a hash brown and a small iced coffee for five bucks plus tax. Available until 11 a.m. at participating McDonald's restaurants. Price excludes flavored iced coffee and delivery. Hey, what's up? It's Will Kane, and today is a Kane on Sport. sports-exclusive episode of The Will Cane Show. I'm on vacation one more day, so we thought we might revisit a fascinating conversation. We had with NBA star Jonathan Isaac, who is putting together a business that gives you a real alternative to Nike, to brands that don't share your values.

Here is Jonathan Isaac. Jonathan Isaac of the Orlando Magic and, most importantly, for our conversation, today, Jonathan Isaac of Unitas. What's up, man? Not much, Will, man. Thank you so much for having me. I see that big smile on your face when I say Unitas. Tell us about it. What is Unitas? Unitas is a values-based sportswear and apparel company. So leisure wear, sportswear. It started actually off of the idea of doing my own sneaker. So back during 2020, I was a Nike-signed athlete. It's getting paid by Nike. You know, as most people know, I got injured during that time and didn't resign with them. I was having a conversation with my pastor, and he told me, you should

make your own sneaker. And I'm like, okay, but I don't think you know how hard it is to make a shoe. But I started to walk down the road of what would that look like and started to walk down that road and it got, you know, the idea got bigger and bigger. And it was like, why just do a sneaker for me that I could wear, but why not create an entire sportswear and apparel company that could stand for the values of people that, you know, share the same values as I do. I don't think it's, you know, it's very apparent today that multiple sportswear companies, corporations have all, in my opinion, decided to go in one direction. And to me, it's against a lot of the foundational values and principles that this country was founded on, against the foundational principles and

values of my faith. And so I was like, why not use the freedom that we're afforded in America to create an alternative for people who want to buy with their values and do it in a high quality, super fresh, super culturally relevant way, and that's how Unitas was born. You know, one of the responses, Jonathan, to the leftward lurch, the embrace of woke ideology of the sports media, the sports industry, one of the responses has been, I just want my sports. I don't want your sermon. I don't want your ideology.

I don't want your values baked into the cake of my entertainment, of my sports. In other words, there has been some push to create something that is agnostic in response to an industry that has taken on a different set of values. But that's not what you're describing to us today. Unitas is not agnostic. You have, in fact, a positive message built into this brand centered around several values. So what are the values of Unitas? Well, first off, I'll tell you why. I'll tell you why I don't, I didn't want to do an agnostic approach.

Firstly, because I do believe that there was a time where you were quoting that it was just about entertainment. And it didn't matter what the people believed from the place that you were getting your groceries or your, you know, your sportswear or your TV. You know, the NBA, the NFL, it didn't matter what they personally believed. It was just about the sport. I think those times are gone. And it has ushered in this new era where it does matter where you put your money because the people who are owning these corporations are able to push ideologies, ideas on everyone and almost force people to buy things in a certain way that derails their own values. And so I think that in the time that we're in today, it is crucial to be able to speak back to it and create something that is, like you said, a positive message for individuals, for the country, people's faith to be able to stand on. The values that I'm talking about are, firstly,

faith. Faith is a huge part of my life. And I understand that it may not be about everybody. And at the end of the day, you might not be for them. But I do believe that if you understand the value and necessity for faith in a broad sense, if you understand the necessity and values of the principles and ideologies that has made this country great, I think Unitas is for you. All right. And so, and give me some specificity on what that is. If I buy a piece of apparel, and we'll talk a minute about what that apparel is, but if I buy shoes or a shirt from Unitas, what values am I supporting? You're supporting faith. You're supporting freedom, freedom of speech, freedom of religion. You're supporting family, a family foundation that we believe is a husband, a wife, children. And we just want to see these values celebrated in the marketplace and the culture. And so, again, just a positive, hopeful movement towards being the best that we could be and living up to the ideals that, again, I believe, has made this country great. And if we walk in them, you know, we'll get back to the place that we need to be.

Can I tell you, so here's a quick story that should give you a lot of optimism. So, you know, I have a son who's now 15. And I have maybe inappropriately, Jonathan, left the world to him to figure out. I mean, I've certainly guided him. I have certainly given him my principles and my values. but I have tried not to, quote, unquote, indoctrinate him. I wanted him to be a critical thinker and trusted that he would find his way down the right path. Now, I think that's actually up for debate on whether or not that's the right choice as a parent.

I've had conversations with some very good friends of mine who said, no, you should indoctrinate them to positive values to faith. And I honestly don't know the answer, Jonathan. I don't know which is the right way, but here's the story. Here's the moral of the story that I think lends to you in particular optimism. He found his way on his own. You know, he found his way to this, I think, and I don't mean to sound too heavy, but this path of righteousness. And then this is just a superficial example. He totally on his own said, I want these shorts.

I want some new workout gear. And I'm not going to remember the brand. And I apologize to the brand off the top of my head. But the symbol of their brand is a set of barbells in the shape of a cross. And they make shorts not unlike Lulu lemon or. any of the other, you know, active wear brands, but he just wanted on his own to patronize something that reflected something that he found a value. And so I think the note of optimism is I'm going to bet you anything. My son is not alone in the people waiting for you out there in

the market. Yeah, and I appreciate that. And I think the big thing for me, too, is the same way your son has found encouragement and pride in the values that he stands for and believes. in and is able to market that to the world through his clothing. That's what I want to do with United is to build this community people, primarily because I know what it is to stand up for something and to feel alone and feel like it's a bad thing to believe what you believe because the numbers are so not in your favor. But if you're able to create a community of people who say, you know what, I'm going to take pride in the values that I hold dear and I believe that they deserve to be celebrated.

And I can do that through apparel that looks great. it's not something that's super in your face but it looks great you can wear it to work out you can wear it to walk around i think you start to build this encouragement and energy um through people who who just want to get out and support what they want to support yeah and i take for granted that people know who you are jonathan isaac and i would point them to previous episodes of the will cane podcast where you and i here have talked about your story but it's worth reiterating that you you are a player who stood up for his faith who stood up for the national anthem who responded in eloquence and wisdom as to why you did those,

why you made those choices and why you stood in that form of action. And I'm sure in many ways you were received with criticism, even within your own locker room, and I'm sure there are places quietly you received support. What Jonathan has the response been like in the NBA with your teammates and from others towards this launch of Unitas? Well, it's, it's been mixed. I would say I haven't gotten, you know, like any hate from like players or, you know, associates or coaches or higher ups or anything like that.

It's mostly just fans. But it's been mixed. You know, people, you know, there is that sentiment of like, man, you're a basketball player. Just play basketball. You know, but for me personally, I don't see myself that way. I think basketball is what I do. I love it. But it isn't who I am.

And I don't believe that it is the end all be all to my destiny is a, as a. a human being. And so when it comes to creating or, you know, standing up or, you know, speaking my mind, I've gotten more and more comfortable doing so. And so I just continue to. But it's been mixed. Some fans are all for it. Some fans aren't. But that's to be expected. Tell us a little bit about United as thin as a product. Like you and I spoke privately for a little bit about what you were looking to do. You know, I think it's a real challenge for every entrepreneur. Do I go all in on one product or I try to create several products? What are you going to launch with shoes, shirts, workout gear? What is Unitas in terms of what I can buy?

So our first capsule is going to be leisure wear. So August 1st, you know, you can head to we areunitus.com and you're going to be able to buy hoodie, sweatpants, t-shirt, sweatshirt, hats, stuff like that, just more so on the leisure side. And as we move farther into the fall, we'll be able to drop our designated men and women sportswear, which is like your leggings, your sports bra, your tank top for your guys, your shorts to wear it to the gym, and then we're also working on the footwear. I'm going to be the first signed athlete to Unitas. And so I'll be wearing my own sneaker, the Judah won this upcoming season.

And the hope is that as we continue to move forward, we'll be able to get into other lanes as we sign other value-aligned athletes. So it is something that it takes time. It's not easy. It took me a year and a half to work on the shoe and get it to wear it is today. And so that stuff takes time and rolling it out and obviously getting the right players to see what United States and want to sign with us, but I'm looking forward to it and just kind of taking it a day at a time and kind of slow rolling it.

Yeah, we talked about this, and I've had conversations with others who are going down the path that you're going down. I've talked to some guys who've launched a marketplace for businesses, like a Yelp for businesses where they can find commerce of similar values. But one of the tricks is always you've also got to hit not just a product. reflects my values, but this is just reality, right? You've got to, you've got to hit something that's easy for me to buy. It's, and it's got to be good. It's got to have high quality. It's got to look good. A thousand percent. That has been, that was the most important thing to me from the get-go. I'm all about landing the message. I want people to understand

that Unitas isn't about hating anybody. It's not about, you know, going against anybody. It is simply about using our freedom as Americans to say, you know what, this company may not be going in the direction that I want them to go, well, here's an alternative, and I can spend my money here and freely do so. That's what it was about for me from the beginning. But also the same sentiment was that I want this thing to be extremely high quality, extremely comfortable, and just for people to like it, I want young people, adults to feel encouraged when they wear Unitis, that they're not just wearing something that aligns with their values, but they're wearing something that looks good that other people are going to be looking at as well.

All right. We're going to step aside here for just a moment. Stay tuned. From the Fox News Podcasts Network. Hey there, it's me. Kennedy, make sure to check out my podcast. Kennedy saves the world. It is five days a week, every week. Download and listen at Fox Newspodcast.com or wherever you listen to your favorite podcast. Listen to the all-new Brett Bear podcast featuring Common Ground. In-depth talks with lawmakers from opposite sides of the aisle, along with all your Brett Bear favorites like his All-Star panel and much more. Available now at foxnewspodcasts.com or wherever you get your podcasts. Let me ask you a couple of entrepreneurial questions.

What about distribution? Is it all going to be direct to consumer? I mean, that's a huge hurdle, right? Can you get into Academy and or I don't know what stores you might want to get into? But can you get into distribution retail or is it all going to be, you know, internet-based direct-to-consumer? The beginning, it is going to be D to C, and, you know, that'll take some time to build up and to show, you know, strong numbers from a D2C standpoint. My hope is that, you know, at some point in time, we'll be able to sell in churches, we'll be able to sell on, you know, certain Christian Catholic college campuses. And then also being able to support and supply college athletes, you know, from different Christian and Catholic schools.

So that's, that's kind of one of our verticals that, you know, I think that over time we can hit those hurdles. and then get to a place where we're actually really sponsoring full-on college teams in a big way. High school teams, you know, the whole NIL thing is going on now as well. So that's that when it comes to brick and mortar, you know, you never know how, you know, you're going to be perceived. You know, I think there are going to be many people in the mainstream who do want to see this kind of push to one side. Oh, it's, you know, it's a conservative company and it doesn't belong in any in any stores or anything like that. I would disagree with that, but it is what it is. You never know. But the hope would be, at some point in time, we'd be able to make our own stores, kind of like a Lulu Lemon or something

like that. Right. And I ask you that, not just out of curiosity, but I'm rooting for you to succeed. What about manufacturing, man? Where are you going to make everything? Where are you going to make the clothes? Where are you going to make the shoes? It's a great question. And I know that's something that a lot of people think about when you're talking about a company. I was very adamant from the beginning. I did not want a manufacture in China. That was something that was important to me. When it comes to the sneakers, I got hooked up with these guys at SoulWorks. They are kind of ex-Naiki guys, ex-Aidus guys, and were able to help me figure out where can you manufacture sneakers outside of China,

and we landed on Vietnam. And so we have high-profile, high-quality factories in Vietnam that are doing the sneakers. When it comes to the clothes, we are sourcing out of Turkey. But a lot of the embroidering and stitching is all being done in the USA. You know, Jonathan, it's interesting on that note, you know, I think there's two levels of choices and two levels of criticism when it comes to people and businesses doing business with someplace like China, because you're going to be able to find some level of disagreement, some appropriate criticism for most countries, maybe even obviously Vietnam and Turkey as well. The issue is, do I want to do business?

like Enos Cantor would make the argument, don't do business in China, period. Period. Do not do business with someone who has human rights abuses or others would argue is a clear antagonist to the United States of America with the Chinese Communist Party. But there's also realists out there that look at maybe the live golf tour and say, business is business and you can't find purity anywhere you go. So the secondary level is, well, do your business, but then don't come back home and preach about the spec in our eye while ignoring the log in in your own eye meaning where you're doing business and so i for one have tried to separate those two like i i can offer criticism for someone doing business with china but it's not going to be honestly i'm not going to come as full-throated as i am if you're doing business with china and then telling me how awful it is to do business or how awful it is in north carolina because of a bathroom bill or florida because of quote-unquote book banning that's just a level of hypocrisy i cannot take so you're choices, I think, satisfy both. But I was curious what your answer would be because I wouldn't

have even slammed you if you'd chosen China because you weren't one of the people back home going, look how awful it is in the United States. You know, and I appreciate that perspective. I don't think that is a perspective held by a lot of people. I think it should be on both the realism side in terms of there are so many things that people use every single day that comes from China. And so to propagate that, you know, obviously, they have their things over there that we absolutely vehemently disagree with, but at the end of the day, tons of things that you're using every day is from China. For me, it was more so just a personal thing. With where I want Unitas to go and be in the long term, I felt more comfortable

not manufacturing in China and just kind of distancing myself from that and just the climate when it comes to that conversation. And so to me, it was better to manufacture elsewhere. Everybody has like, okay, if you're going to be pro-USA, you have to manufacture in the USA. That would be a dream of mine. It is something that is very difficult when you are doing something by yourself and trying to build it and to grow it when it comes to being able to provide quality when it comes to margins and stuff like that. So it's tough, but I've tried my best to balance it and feel that at some point that

could be a possibility. Jonathan, I love that you never dodge a question. So I trust you won't dodge this question as well. Who's on the list? Tell me the athletes that fit the Unitas brand. who you are going to be going after. So, you know, one of them is an ex-athlet, but she is doing fantastic work when it comes to women's sports.

Riley Gaines is going to be our first brand ambassador for Unitas on the sports side. In terms of current athletes, I've had my conversations. I don't want to put anything out there right now just because you don't know how these things. Some of these guys are in contracts right now with other companies, and so I don't want to put that out there. There are a few guys from several sports. It's football, baseball, baseball, basketball, soccer, running, track and field that I've had conversations with and are excited about to see how Unitas takes off.

And based on that, based on whether they're on their own current contracts, we could have a real conversation about them switching or when that contract is done, obviously, they would come over. But Riley Gaines is going to be our first kind of public brand ambassador. We're going to step aside here for a moment. Stay tuned. Hey, I'm Trey Gowdy host of the Tregaddy podcast. I hope you will join me every Tuesday and Thursday as we navigate life together and hopefully find ourselves a little bit better on the other side. Listen and follow now at Fox Newspodcast.com. I love that.

You answered the best you could within the reality. Hey, I'm curious. You're in the NBA. I don't know the story on this. So let's say I'm an NBA player and I don't have an endorsement deal with Nike or anyone. How does that work? I can wear whatever shoe I want, right? at that point.

And so the prospect for you to have an athlete wearing a Judah 1 in the NBA as soon as you launch is there, right? You could get an athlete on board, even if you're not in an official endorsement capacity with that athlete. A thousand percent. So if there's, you know, college, NBA, there's guys that are like, yo, you know, I love what you're doing. Send me some Judah 1s and I'll rock them. I'll send it to them and go from there. Then there's obviously guys that you would pinpoint to want to do a deal with. That's a different conversation.

But, you know, guys are free to wear what they want to wear. And you'll be wearing them this coming season? Ladies, I'll be wearing them this coming season. For the Orlando Magic? Mm-hmm. Okay. Just making sure. Just making sure.

I'll be with Orlando. Okay. All right. Just to make sure there's no trades on the table. Like, I mean, if you want to wear them in Dallas, and you and I can grab dinner after a game, you know, that's cool, too. You know, we need some rebounds. We need some rebounds in defense in Dallas.

Look at him. He just stays quiet. All right. Hey, so last thing, man, I'm really excited for you as a person. I've gotten to know you a little bit. I'm super excited for where you're headed. How is it going for you? I know you have always said that you found support in the NBA for just kind of being the independent dude that you are. But, you know, I'm curious if there's also been the cold shoulder, how that's kind of grown over time. The last time we spoke about this was probably, I don't know, was it a year ago, Jonathan, Maybe we kind of talked about... Yeah, so, I mean, like, what's...

You had some severe injuries this last season, but you, you know, you were back. You were back with the team, you were playing. So I'm just curious, like, how's all of that gone in the years since I've talked to you last? Just being who you are in the NBA? I mean, I think it's gone as well as you could hope, given the circumstances. Like, I'm fully aware that I am not the average guy in the NBA. And so I don't, I don't expect it. You know, obviously, you know, some guys just vehemently disagree with your positions on things.

And so, you know, they don't want to talk or they don't want to, they don't see any grounds for a friendship or relationship. And that's completely fine. But at the same time, I have found, I found great respect, you know, from guys that are like, yo, you know, I respect you for being your own man and doing what you're doing. And I think that'll be the sentiment even more so as this stuff comes out. Like, you know, there isn't another player that has done this from this. standpoint, you know, the guys have partnered with other companies to do things, but there's no guy who had said, I'm going to try to go for the whole pie myself instead of doing something with somebody else. And so I think that that is grounds for respect, you know, whether you want to

give it or not. And so even back to, you know, the whole thing with the BLM, I had guys that were, you know, greatly upset at me for my position on standing. But over time, as things have come out, you know, with BLM and, you know, they've said to me, you know what, I was emotional when it came to my decision during that time and, you know, the way I spoke and things like that. But now seeing how things are today, you know, I would have went about it differently. And so that's very interesting. Yeah, that's really interesting. And one quick follow up on that.

Were you surprised? Have you been surprised about the guys who've come up to you and said, you know, I respect the positions you've taken? And the guys in the converse who have decided I don't need to be friends with Jonathan. I'm just curious, was it different than who you would have predicted? Has it been surprising? No, I don't think it's been surprising. No guy has come up to me and said, you know, I disagree with you. So from that standpoint, I'm not sure.

But, you know, it is what it is. But, yeah, no, it hasn't been surprising. I think the guys that I was closely with, more intimate with, like, teammates and stuff like that, you know, felt over time that, you know, they needed to say something in terms of respect factor or, you know, that they would have changed their stance on a lot of things moving forward or even in the future. I had a guy say to me, look, if they tried to do what they did with the vaccine again, I'm with you, I ain't taking it. And so, so yeah. Yeah. All right, man, I mean it. I am so excited for you. I think I am so excited,

first of all, if I did not know you, I would be so excited for someone ready to launch something that I believe there's a marketplace. In theory, ready to accept. We need everybody out there to turn their talk into actions. We need truly, you know, and I talked about this on a recent episode of my podcast. I need advertisers that share my values. You need customers. that share your values. We need a marketplace that shares our values. So just in the theory of it all, theoretically, I would be excited for you. But knowing you as a man as well and who you've been, I'm even more excited for Unitas. And so, man, I wish you the best of luck. I can't wait to see everything here as it's unveiled in the next couple of days. And I'll look for you wearing those Unitas.

Send me a pair. And you got any lows? I need low. I need lows. No, no lows yet. No lows yet. I'm too old for, I'm too old for mids and highs, man. I'm too old. Too old, too white. I need, I need lows. That's something I'll be saying a lot to folks. Be patient. It's going to take time. You know, everybody's like, you've got to come out with this. You got to come out with this. You've got to come out with that. I'm like, be patient. We've got to come out with it. All right. All right. And I'll look for them. Maybe in Orlando. Maybe on the road in Dallas, you know. We'll see if we can work out any home games in Dallas. All right, man. Always rooting for you, Jonathan.

Appreciate it. Jonathan. I appreciate it. Will. All right. Take care. Peace. That's going to do it for me today. Here on the Will Kane Show. We'll see you again next time. Listen to ad-free with a Fox News podcast plus subscription on Apple Podcast, and Amazon Prime members, you can listen to this show, ad-free on the Amazon music app. Fox News Audio presents Unsolved with James Patterson.

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