Ah there is nothing like a good Q&A to gain some nuggets of knowledge from someone. But to have a good Q&A you must have good questions and props to NY Post’s Steve Serby, he had a moment with new Nets guard Jeremy Lin and covered everything. From his new team, fellow Harvard man Ryan Fitzpatrick’s contract situation and gave a few lines describing several players including Derrick Rose, Brandon Jennings and Brook Lopez.
The whole Q&A is via the link above but I wanted to talk about three subjects that caught my eye. Firstly, not sure if you’ve realised, but Jeremy Lin is of Asian decent and because he is Asian, he is unfortunately susceptible to Racism. But he doesn’t let hate get to him.
G: Do you still encounter racism?
A: There’s gonna be racism everywhere I go, and some of it’s more subtle, some of it’s less malicious. I mean, every day there’s guys with certain stereotypes or whatever, and it’s not just me. But yeah, I still go through it.Q: How do you handle it?
A: I just shake it off, it’s not a big deal. Sometimes the stuff people might say or tweet or comment, really racist things, but that doesn’t bother me like it used to. I still get stopped when I try to go through away arenas and stuff, and I’m walking with my teammates, and obviously none of them are Asian but I’m the only one that gets stopped, and they ask for my credentials, stuff like that. “Hey, we need your credentials,” or “Are you part of the team?” Stuff like that. But I really don’t let it affect me. … I’m so used to it now. It doesn’t bother me.
Shake it up like Taylor Swift, the dude went to Harvard, he has the actual right to say he’s smarter than you. Which is why he’s not a fan of NBA stereotypes. By that I mean boxes we all put players in such as “Weak jumpshot” or “Can’t play D”. Lin certainly has his.
Q: What stereotype on the basketball court bothers you the most?
A: I feel like when people say I can’t play defense or something like that, if you look at the numbers, or if you look at things I’ve been able to do … people just assume like, “Oh, I’m not that quick,” or “Oh, I can’t jump that high,” whatever. I’ve been top one or two in blocks per minute at the point guard position for the last two [or] three seasons. People don’t see me as a great shot-blocking guard partially because they look at me, and they’re like, “There’s no way he could be.” Just a lot of the old stereotypes, like “He can’t go left,” or, “He turns the ball over.” I feel like a lot of times when I see what’s going on, I feel like people are just trying to describe what they remember from me as a player four years ago. A lot of the small tricks, or things that people might not see or be able to quantify in a stat, I feel like I’m able to do more and to be better in.
That is interesting. Other than Dwyane Wade I don’t really notice how many blocks guards get. We only look at big men because they’re the ones that top the charts but guards get their swats as well. It’s just something we don’t actively look for.
Hey, remember when Amar’e Stoudemire decided to talk about Linsanity and Carmelo Anthony’s feelings towards Lin? Well Lin has talked about that and didn’t see any specs of salt.
Q: Mike D’Antoni and Amar’e Stoudemire have said it wasn’t working with you and Carmelo with the Knicks.
A: I never have had personal issues with him, I’ve never had any amount of conflict or disagreement or anything in person. I was a lot younger, a lot more naive with everything, and I was just trying to do my best to help us make the playoffs. So a lot of what people are saying, and what people have said, are kind of things that I’m piecing into the story as well. I’m not able to speculate on behalf of what someone else is saying, if that makes sense. I can only tell you my experience with Melo myself, and I’ve never had any issues with him.
Why are people so PC? You don’t play with the guy anymore, blow it up! Tell all. Sure he may not have openly shown negative feelings but you must have felt some radiation. I guess he’s saving it for his post career biography. Jeremy Lin: From Harvard to Hero.
