Why is it that only black players are the only ones to allow to use the race card? If someone accuses a black player being racist, then it's just a misunderstanding or blah blah...it's the contract for the 3rd year, he only played a month...blah, blah When Colin cowherd from Espinoza asked jalen rose if there's some racism associated with the situation, rose brushed off like it was just about how the other players believe they paid their dues and Lin is getting this based on a month worth of work.. Really? In that case, they should be calling out 50% of the players in the league.
of course there's a double standard. there are tons of black comedians whose whole schtick is racist jokes & nobody bats an eye. can you imagine a white comedian whose entire act is based on racist jokes?
Exactly! This is my point! He is dumb, and was saying dumb things. He wasn't saying hateful things. There was no malicious intent; he was just ignorant.
Agreed. I don't think Melo or JR thought 'I don't like Asians, let me slam this contract.' They genuinely thought the contract was ridiculous, fine. But you don't talk about another player's contract. And they clearly they don't see Lin as another player because that's exactly what they did. Of all the bad contracts, all the marginal players, all the suspect situations players land big money, after all these years, why is Lin the one they finally speak up on? As I posted in the dish, I think Chris Rock sums it up. <blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p>Jeremy linn I've never seen grown men hate on another mans money like this in my life .</p>— Chris Rock (@chrisrock) <a href="https://twitter.com/chrisrock/status/225052794296610816" data-datetime="2012-07-17T02:22:22+00:00">July 17, 2012</a></blockquote> <script src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script> <blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p>If linn were a 23 old black kid who came straight from high school and had tat on his neck that said thug life and hap… <a href="http://t.co/2gMm6S0s" title="http://say.ly/ERB3MLj">say.ly/ERB3MLj</a></p>— Chris Rock (@chrisrock) <a href="https://twitter.com/chrisrock/status/225645087663730688" data-datetime="2012-07-18T17:35:55+00:00">July 18, 2012</a></blockquote> <script src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
The history of black oppression in the United States. Nothing really more than that. Not to say that other minorities weren't treated poorly, but African Americans constantly bring it up and we all have to tread carefully around the subject. You put a black or white person in Asia and the citizens there could care less about you calling them racists. I do think that in recent times people shouldn't be as politically correct as they are, but because we're constantly being reminded that we could be stepping on toes, we don't get to do that. I might have a higher threshold for that kind of thing, though, because I can generally tell when something is said in jest and something is said as an insult. Racism exists and it always will exist in America, everywhere. Has it gotten a lot better? I think so, and it's why sometimes I'm frustrated about the double-standard. I feel bad that white-people sometimes try to be completely politically correct and end up sounding awkward for it. That they can recognize racial and cultural differences and make an effort to be sensitive is all that should be necessary, and people shouldn't be taking advantage of it. It's also why I love watching comics that mock that very thing. We're a multicultural, multiracial society. Let's embrace that and have fun and not act like dicks. Hardcore racists that act on their racism in a demeaning fashion should be ridiculed and punished, that's for certain. But being overtly sensitive to the subject, sometimes I don't quite understand it.
of course that's what it was. Only people that are utterly naive about sociology or pretending to be politically correct would disagree. Human beings have built in prejudices that they act on consciously or subconsciously. Humans are tribal by nature. Sure melo thinks no way he was being racist (i think) but subconsciously he was. just like JR. It was indirect Freudian Slip.
Its also amazing that players leave other teams for the NY teams all the time and its totally ok, but the minute someone leaves NY for another squad the bashing begins. If they Knicks were so concerned about him leaving why didn't they offer him a contract before he got an offer sheet. They told him to go test the market so this is all on them.
Carmelo is the perfect person to be the face of the New York Knicks franchise. Give it five years and people will view him in the same light as Marbury. Sure, Melo doesn't have a bangbus parked outside MSG yet, but give him some time! He's a creative guy, I have faith in him to think up something just as hilarious.
Everywhere people are writing about how dumb the Knicks were for not matching the contract because of the supposed giant financial windfall from the marketing of Jeremy Lin. And then posters turn-around and reproach me for suggesting that some of that marketing premium was baked into Lin's contract?
OK, this is a dumb post from yet another white guy who has no F'ing clue about black people or black players. Race has nothing to do with what Carmelo said. In one sense he's correct about Lin's contract being ridiculous because it is ridiculous to offer that kind of money to a guy with so many question marks at PG. Not that I don't think that, given enough time, Lin has the potential to become a star PG. But this contract pays him like he's already a star player based on a sample of 25 games. That's what Carmelo was talking about although I would be the first to admit that he should have kept these thoughts to himself. But Camelo isn't the first athlete - black or white to open his mouth and insert foot. The article on ESPN "Six Degrees Of Separation: Jeremy Lin" explains in great detail where Carmelo is coming from. Here's an excerpt from part one titled "The Family": While this is the first time I have ever heard of this so-called "family concept", I can understand the reasoning of those who subscribe to this line of thought. What's happening in NY is a result of what's happened in Miami with the Superfriends and Carmelo is not the only player who wants to replicate what's happened in Miami because this is what Howard & D Williams want for Brooklyn and what Chris Paul wants to do in LA.
The Knicks made a financial decision based on basketball reasoning. Matching the Houston offer would have left the Knicks looking at a luxury tax bill that would have been record setting plus the contract itself would have rendered Lin untradeable. Folks don't realize just how clever Morey was in exploiting a hole in the new CBA with his use of the "poison pill" provision in that offer. The Knicks were caught totally flat-footed and were rightfully embarassed. The Knicks had already factored in the diminishing impact of Linsanity over time into their plans.
Chris Rock is telling another joke here. So if JR Smith or Carmelo had scored 38 points against the Lakers (Chris Rock's example ) would it be SMITHSANITY? or MELOSANITY? Don't think so. What's new about some black kid (again Chris Rock's example) scoring 38 points in an NBA game? If anything the guy has benefited from being asian (not being white or black). Nothing against Lin it's just the truth. To say people are hating on his money because he isn't black is laughable no matter who's mouth it spews out of. At the end of the day, I hope Lin plays his a$$ off here & we're able to do something significant because I'm a Rox fan. 1 playoff series win in 15 years is all I care about.
That's where you're wrong. 8 million per year is not a star's contract, it is the contract of a starting PG in the NBA. Rodney Stuckey has the exact same contract and nobody bats an eye despite nobody thinking that he's a star.
But there is still a question about Lin's effectiveness as a starting PG. In pure basketball terms, that offer was out of whack for a guy who was a backup PG at best, who was at the end of the NYK bench and who showed flashes of in a mere 25 games as a starter. Given the fact that he has to demonstrate that he can consistently produce on a nightly basis as a starting PG, it was somewhat premature to offer him a starter's contract. Not saying that he can't do so, just that he hasn't done so yet.
IMO, Lin's salary is a reflection of the monetary flow that he'll bring into Les' pockets and not of his effectiveness as a starting PG.
Ummm.. you say he benefited. I say he had to fight prejudice and racism his whole life when it came to basketball. Won California state championship in HS. Never got a D1 Scholarship. Wanted to play basketball and only Harvard guaranteed him playing time (no athletic scholarship). Asian Kid (You can take the "Asian" adjective out if its easier to wrap your mind around this) who couldn't even get a D1 scholarship coming out of HS, leads the Knicks to 8 wins out of 9 games and back into the playoff hunt. Somebody please look up the percentage of D1 basketball players who make it to NBA. This kid couldn't even get a D1 scholarship, and he put the Knicks on his shoulders. (and you all know what happened after that) I think that's all that needs to be said about the race issue Jeremy Lin has had to deal with his whole life.
