DanTranimal

Jeremy Lin, Breaking Down Barriers

Posted on the July 23rd, 2010 under Sports by dantranimal

Perhaps it’ll be when Jeremy Lin plays his first meaningful minute in a Golden State Warriors uniform. Or scores his first point. Or pulls off a sensational move against a bona fide superstar in the NBA. No matter which pivotal moment Jeremy and the media deem most important, to most people in the Asian-American community, it was the chance to finally play that will be considered most special.

In many respects, Asian-Americans have overachieved given their relatively short history amongst American racial minorities. Yet, in fields where meritocracy is buried beneath the burden of stereotypes and public perception – industries such as music, film, politics and even the corporate world – the Asian-American face has shone least bright.

During my childhood, our community had one face we were proud to call our own, that of Michael Chang’s. He wasn’t merely good enough to play professionally, he was one of the elites of tennis, an area where true performance, hard-work, and perseverance was rewarded. We finally saw someone who looked like us on television, magazines, and advertising.

Yet, basketball, like most team sports, contain a measurable amount of subjectivity in evaluating a player. Jeremy had all the necessary requisites to become a touted recruit for a number of Division 1 teams. He captained the Palo Alto basketball team to a State Championship while racking up very impressive stats: 15.1 points, 7.1 assists, 6.2 rebounds and 5.0 steals. He was only invited to red-shirt with Stanford and UCLA, but had the opportunity to start and star at Harvard.

While at Harvard, Jeremy once again accumulated numerous accolades by his senior year but went undrafted in the 2010 NBA Draft.

It’s neither my place nor anybody else’s to say Jeremy deserved to be drafted or to receive a scholarship at a Pac-10 school. People are dealt the hands they are given and have to make the most of it. He could have bemoaned the unjust system of bastketball scouting for passing him over. He probably did or at least his ardent supporters must assuredly did, but he didn’t lose sight of his goal, even though in many in his position would have. In the wise words of Tracy Morgan, without struggle there can be no progress.

For Jeremy, whether he raised his game to new heights since college, or played the quarter of his life, or just had the talent all along but never given the chance, the NBA finally took notice when Jeremy stood on equal footing against the most highly regarded draftee since LeBron James.

To get to this point, there were many what-ifs in play. What if Donnie Nelson hadn’t invite Jeremy to the NBA Summer League. What if Roddy Beaubois hadn’t gotten hurt so that Jeremy could have more playing time in order to get comfortable? What if that game happened against a different opponent besides the Washington Wizards and John Wall, the consensus No. 1 player in the Draft?

This was the hand Jeremy was dealt with and he made the most of it. I applaud Donnie Nelson and the Golden State Warriors for giving him the opportunity to succeed. It means a tremendous amount to the Asian-American community.

What the community shouldn’t do is place undue pressure on Jeremy Lin and deem him to be the Great Asian Hope. At the same time, he should realize that what he’s doing is breaking enormous ground in American cultural stereotype and perception. It saddens me a little to read this in a recent interview with ESPN TrueHoop.

How important is the [Asian-American] identity stuff?
You know, it’s important but not as important as my being a Christian. That’s first and foremost the most important thing to me when it comes to my identity.

I can understand why he would want to distance himself from being considered special; he must have had that stigma work against him his whole basketball playing life. However, I hope he understands that before there can be a Michael Jordan, Kobe Bryant, or Dwyane Wade (just kidding Lebron, you can be in here too), there first be a Jackie Robinson. To me, they are all equally special.

When Jeremy Lin puts on that Warriors jersey, the Asian-American community can finally say we have one of our own playing in the NBA. Of all the major sports in American culture, basketball is the only sport that most Asian-American households follow with any fervor. I can only imagine that passion intensifying and hope this moment paves the road for more Asian-Americans to pursue their dreams of playing in the NBA.

For the record, Jeremy Lin is the first American-born Asian to play in the NBA.

Wat Misaka, I love you. I probably would have a poster of you on my wall if I was born in the 1940s, but that was clearly a different era.

Rex Walters, if the public wouldn’t even consider Tiger Woods, who is more Asian (half) than African-American (quarter), then sadly you can’t count either. I am sure you are crushed.