Defying All Odds
Jeremy Lin isn’t a gimmick.
There’s an early scene in the 1992 cult classic White Men Can’t Jump that Jeremy Lin – along with probably quite a few Asian American ballers – can relate to. The scene in question saw Woody Harrelson’s Billy Hoyle, supposedly just a spectator in the stands, being picked out by Sidney Deane (played by Wesley Snipes) to play for an opposing team simply because, Deane assumed, that Hoyle was a chump based on his skin color.
Lin told SFGate.com two years ago that growing up as a Chinese baller, he was always dismissed: picked last, deemed too short, and getting the MJ-first-All-Star-game freezeout treatment when he did played. Things got a bit better when he became captain of the Harvard team and led the Crimson to one of its better seasons in recent history. But still. It’s the Ivy League, many thought. “It’s a sport for White and Black people,”
Lin said then.
All that changed for Lin when, on a cold December night, he dropped 30 points on UConn. Buzz about “that Chinese kid” started picking up, and soon profiles and features appeared on ESPN, Sports Illustrated, and even Time Magazine.
Over in Taiwan, where Lin’s parents hailed from, media frenzy snowballed – Lin’s relatives were sought out and interviewed. Asian American communities paid extra attention to the 6-3 kid, with fan sites and customized YouTube videos popped up all over the net. For other basketball diehards, it would seem Lin had pulled a Gilbert-Arenas-in-’06 or Anthony-Randolph-in-’09 type of overnight jump from underrated to overrated.
Lin went undrafted after graduation, but the Dallas Mavericks Summer League Team gave him a spot on the roster. Of course, the novelty of his skin color was a topic everywhere he went. It wouldn’t have been unreasonable to assume that was the sole reason for the invite.
But it all changed again, for a second time, when Lin dueled No. 1 pick John Wall and more than held his own during a summer league game. The buzz started again, could Lin make the NBA? After a few more solid performances, Lin defied the odds and signed with the Golden State Warriors on July 20, 2010.
For Taiwanese basketball fans, Chinese-American ballers, and hell, just about all Chinese in general, Lin making it to the NBA is a big deal. It’s not just the fact that a Chinese dude is balling against the best in the world… it’s how he’s doing it. Most Asian faces in the NBA before him were hulking giants who made the League almost exclusively due to their height. The fact that Lin is doing it with explosive drives, smooth handles, pesky defense, and – a true rarity for Asians – dunks, brought a sense of pride and enthusiasm, to the Chinese.
The stereotype that Chinese are generally inferior athletes in America is the elephant in the room that mainstream media can’t tackle. But on blogs, and in conversation between friends, Lin making it to the League is widely considered as the first attempt to kick that elephant out.
But can he? While many in the Asian American community have taken the signing with a sense of pride, most notably the Banana Times’ Why Jeremy Lin Matters blog entry (selected by Yahoo Sports’ Ball Don’t Lie as one of the 10 best basketball blog entries of the week recently), there are skeptics. William Vuong, a 28-year-old former basketball standout at Alhambra High School in California, says Lin’s signing is a gimmick.
“I want a Chinese baller to make it because of skills, not because he sells tickets and products,” says the 2000 Alpine League First Teamer. Vuong says he watched every Summer League game, and, although Lin is good, he isn’t “NBA good.”
“If the Warriors needed a point guard, why not Sherrod Collins from Kansas?,” he asks, adding that Collins is a proven winner from one of the top programs in the nation. “Anyone who thinks the Warriors, who was recently sold and is based in a city with one of the largest Asian American community in the US, didn’t sign Lin for merchandise and ticketing sales is tripping.”
Whether or not Lin’s signing is driven by an agenda to boost ticket sales and buzz is up for debate, but the move has undoubtedly caused a positive reaction for the NBA in Taiwan. Chris Wang, a veteran sports journalist and current columnist for NBA.com in Taiwan, says Lin’s signing has increased interest in the League, although he isn’t sure if it’s increased enthusiasm for basketball in general, because Wang argues t
hat, “pound for pound, Taiwanese basketball fans love of the game surpasses those in China.”
Lin and his family (parents and two brothers) appeared in an NBA-organized press conference in Taiwan less than 10 days after the signing. Hailed as “the first Taiwan player in the NBA,” Lin received a hero’s welcome at the press conference.
Back in the US, where Asian American basketball leagues can be found in all major cities, Lin’s emergence has given a sense of hope for aspiring Chinese ballers. Ren Hsieh, commissioner of the Fast Break NYC basketball league, says almost all Asian American ballers in his league have feel proud and inspired. But Hsieh takes a cautious approach. “Let’s wait and see how he plays first before we label him the Great Yellow Hope,” he says.
Garron Chiu, who wrote the Why Jeremy Lin Matters piece in Banana Times, argues that “[Lin] will be an important stepping stone in proving that Asians have got game too, whether it be in dominating all-star games or contributing 10 minutes off the bench.”
With Nike Taiwan reportedly in talks to create a show based on Lin and Taiwan media sending reporters to the Bay Area for day-to-day in-season coverage, Lin’s upcoming season could play a big part in whether or not the Chinese-can’t-ball stereotype stay strong or take a (minor) dent. Regardless, basketball is about to reach an even higher profile in Taiwan, Hong Kong and China.
Yeung Dong-yuen of NBA Taiwan says Lin’s emergence has inspired basketball playing youth in the country to believe. “It’s a long shot to make it to the League,” he says. “But Lin proved it’s not impossible.”
“Asian Americans have never really believed they could make it to the NBA,” says Hsieh. “I know I dreamt about it, but it was never serious.”
Lin has finally, Hsieh adds, added legitimacy to the dream.
Ben Sin is a California-raised, Hong Kong-based journalist currently writing for the South China Morning Post. His true passion, some say obsession, is basketball. Visit his blog at therearenoroads.wordpress.com.
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I know I’ve been ecstatic about the Lin signing, but I also want to see him play in the League before hyping him up anymore. Hopefully he’ll get the playing time to prove himself.
Great read, Ben!
Good article. It’s good to mention both sides of the story. There are legitimate doubts about the motivation of the Warriors. They have new ownership and they are trying to turn the corner and start a new era for the franchise and signing Lin is only a positive PR move for them. The Bay Area and Cali (LA, San Jose)in general is a hot bed of asian american bball players, leagues and teams. There are tons of high quality Division 1 level talent and a ton or organized youth teams and leagues. I was born and raised and played BBall all my life here in NYC. I wish I grew up in San Fran or LA, I think I would have definitely had a Division 1 or at least Division 2 scholarship. So, what the Warriors are trying to take advantage of this. I’ve been to Warriors game when visiting San Fran from when CWebb was on that team up to last year and there is a ton of Asians in the stands. I’ve talked to many of them and they all are very dedicated and knowledgeable fans. Most of them were fans since the Run TMC days with Mullin, Hardaway, Mitch and Sarunas Marciulionis. A lot of them played either back in Asia and in San Fran and a lot of them coach as well.
I think Jeremy will get a legit shot at getting playing time b/c Nellie loves to find diamonds in the rough and make unknowns legit NBA players. Nellie, if he likes you, will be a great coach for Jeremy. In practice he will go up against Monta, Curry, Bell and get killed. But hopefully Nellie will like his moxie and fearlessness and keep on teaching him. At the worse he goes to D-League. Right now he is good enough to play in Europe either in Spain, Italy, Greece of France. He’s not good enough of a shooter to make a Euroleague team, yet but he’s good enough for a Eurocup team. The problem I see with that is his motivation to go that route. Does he really want to play for a living in Europe? I would think a Chinese team, ie Shanghai Sharks, Guangdong Tigers or Shanxi will offer him a contract, if he doesn’t stick in the NBA and he declines a European team. I am very excited to see how his game develops and all of this shakes out. I going to try my best and go to a Warrior game in San Fran, hopefully he will get some PT.
All of this started last year, when Harvard beat Boston College, he destroyed Tyrese Rice. Al Skinner and Tyrese said he can play but many dismissed it as a fluke, But they played again this year and they won again and he had a good game. Then the UConn game and it blew up from there. It was obvious Jerome Dyson and Kemba Walker was not expecting him to be that fast, quick and athletic. The whole team and even Calhoun was surprised even after he had that coast to coast drive and two handed slam. They never seen/played against a 6’2″ asian kid with that level of quickness, hops and handle. He was in a great situation at Harvard, Tommy Ammaker is a real good coach and he truly believed in him, he gave Jeremy free reign on the team. Tommy b/c of his Duke background and connections convinced NBA scouts and people that Jeremy was worth giving a shot.
He needs to get stronger, tighten up his handle and improve his jump shot.
Any league that prohibits people based on race is problematic.
Black only, white only, latino only, asian only. That is a problem no matter who you slice it.
Now, in international ball there are regularly quotas about how many foreigners, can play on teams, which protects a certain number of slots for homegrown talent.
I personally find that distasteful, but I understand that these foreign teams don’t believe they can convince fans to come watch second tier Americans play instead of their own countrymen.
Any American league that is restricted by race is racist. Period.
Ma Jian was the pioneer, he defied the Chinese govt to play here and then trying out for the Clips. I saw him play at the yearly Chinese Nationals in Toronto. Legit 6’6″ strong, good shooter, really nice guy. But just wasnt quick enough to guard and go by nba level players. He could have went to Europe but choose to go back to China. Hui Weidong actually was offered a by Dallas, Donn Nelson (Nellie’s son) was coaching the Chinese National team at the time while working for Dallas. Hu was probably the best Chinese guard, smart, athletic, quick, good defender, good shooter. He’s a legend in China. He got injured and could play for the Mavs, then in 2000 he want tried out in Orlando and Doc Rivers was impressed and offered him a ten day contract but he got hurt again. Chen Hsin-An is arguably the best Taiwanese player, 6’5″ quick,athletic, got hops, decent shooter he was in the Kings camp but got cut. He wasnt a good enough shooter. I encourage all of you to look these names up online and you will see the history of Chinese ballers in the NBA. But what makes Jeremy special in my eyes is, he’s Asian-American, he grew up here in the US. He was schooled and played on the playgrounds here just like me and a lot of us.
He’s 6’2″ – 6’3″ and is a guard. When you are that size and you play on asian teams here in the US you become a post player b/c most of us like me are 5’9″.
most asian leagues allow anyone to play regardless of ethnicity. they just dub it “asian” cause the majority of people that participate are asian. as for quotas, every league has different criteria for joining. for example, most will cap the maximum height at 6 feet because asians in general aren’t that tall. asian leagues that have no height limit are actually pretty diverse, but the majority of the players are still asian (like 60% or so).
this is all from what i’ve experienced and heard (i’m filipino and live in the bay area)
definitely excited to watch him play. hopefully he’ll get some quality PT (if Nellie doesn’t play Ellis 48 minutes again…)
Mentioning that He is aware that although Lin possesses some very good ball control and quickness and a High BBall IQ, he needs to work on his jump shot to earn minutes.
He knows his game well. Besides, and don’t two of the best point guards to play the game hail from the streets of San Fran and Oakland respectively?
hmm, could they be Jason Kidd and Gary Payton?
There is no reason with some hard work and playing time, Lin can be a quality NBA player and carve his own place in B ball history as well.
T-MOney, thanks for clarifying that for me.
To be clear, I have NO problem with groups forming their own leagues or clubs based on race, or height or whatever. I DO have a problem when you restrict admission to those groups based on those same characteristics.
So, I fully support Asians getting together and forming leagues to play against each other. I don’t support them preventing other races from participating. I think that’s an important line not to cross.
I didn’t really care at all for Lin when he was in college, but now I want him to succeed so bad. Show the world yer worth, kid.
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