If you’re not Asian (American), not into professional basketball, or don’t have a number of Facebook-active Asian-American friends, you probably haven’t heard about Jeremy Lin.
If you are Asian (American), into professional basketball, or have a number of Facebook-active Asian-American friends, there’s a high probability that you haven’t heard about anything but Jeremy Lin.
J-Lin is the newly-minted starting point guard for the New York Knicks, the first American player in the NBA of Chinese or Taiwanese descent, and has been catapulted into the national spotlight with three assured performances for the struggling Knicks, leading them to guarantee his contract earlier this week.
What a journey for Lin. (You can read more of his story via the Wiki link above or here.)
And while I’m still rooting for Kevin Durant and the Oklahoma City Thunder (on account of my Seattle love bleeding over), I’m starting to check the scores every time the Knicks play.
First and foremost, Lin’s a legit baller. But beyond that, he’s an Asian American breaking new ground, an InterVarsity alum, and unapologetic Christian. And for all of those reasons, I want to see him succeed.
He’s also stirred up some thoughts about race and culture among many of my friends, and I’ll be sharing some of those in the coming weeks. But for now … get caught up on #Linsanity by reading some of these Lin-ks (see what I did there?!):
- NY Times: “Jeremy Lin Has Burst From NBA Novelty Act to Surprising Star,” February 2012.
- Timothy Dalrymple’s piece: “Jeremy Lin and the Soft Bigotry of Low Expectations,” February 2012.
- Over at Headsparks*: “A Very Linteresting Development,” February 2012.
- Kevin at 8Asians asks, “What if Jeremy Lin Weren’t Asian?” February 2012.
- Interview with InterVarsity, March 2010.
- TIME Magazine article, December 2009.
A Day in the Life:
Hey Justin, Thanks for the mention in your post. Definitely appreciate it.
And, yes, I saw what you did there 🙂
You’re welcome, D!