And just to demonstrate: Kyrie Irving for example is born in Melbourne, Australia. I think he would be the perfect Point Guard for Australia giving us a team of Irving Mills Ingles Anderson Bogut but he wont and he will play for America. I see Lin in the same way. The publicity he is going to in Asia is going to be huge (and rightfully so because his Asian) but I still see him as American not doubt about it.
Why is it unacceptable to love someone you can be related to even if that connection is very distant? It's same as being proud of someone from the same neighborhood or school making it big even you don't know him/her personally. I am sure Obama likes Lin only because of their college connectioverven they graduated at different year and don't really know each other in person. It's just human nature. Taiwanese people find there is something in Lin they have some connection whether he's born and raised there really doesn't matter. Plus Taiwanese people are always super crazy with sports stars.
Its got nothing to do with Chinese people in general loving/liking Jeremy Lin. Lets put this out first and formost. I'm a fan of Jeremy Lin both as a basketball player, representative of the Asian communty and a devout Christian. But I've seen alot of far fetched things from both Mainland Chinese/HK Chinese People and Taiwanese in particular. Things like he should represent Taiwan in basketball, Taiwanese people show they can ball too, Asian pride etc...... But these things are ridiculous. The guy is NOT Taiwanese. People have to stop claiming him like that. The guy is AMERICAN. His (basketball) success was so dependent on America and that system its not even remotely related to his Taiwanese heritage. Chinese people need to seperate that fact from pride. His a Houston Rocket and he deserves a superstar welcome in Taiwan, but claiming him to be their own like many people are doing is really taking it a bit far
This doesn't necessarily relate to the premise of your discussion. But I find it very interesting that people (his detractors mainly) refer to him as Asian. You are right he is an American, he is from Cali. He is American first but people treat him like he was born and raised in Asia and can barely speak english or something. A little absurd to me. Even the media kind of overplays the Asian card to much.
Please. This has nothing to do with his actual heritage or upbringing. The guy LOOKS ORIENTAL. That's all the matters. Christ, we're talking about the NBA, a SUPERSTAR driven sport that is based almost entirely on appearances. It's like expecting a black kid to identify with a white star (which could very well happen anyway, or vise versa). They might both be American, but say what you want about heritage etc, looks matter. That's how you identify with heros. Looks. Period. He looks Asian, Asians will identify with him.
You totally missed my point. I have no problem with Asians identifying with him nor am I arguing that. What I am saying is that the narrative around him (more so by his detractors) overplays the Asian card. He is an American first and foremost and I find that some people forget that and front like he is not. That is all I am getting at. And I did start my previous post with "This doesn't necessarily relate to the premise of your discussion". Meaning I was referring to the commentary between bbjai and carayip.
Is it really very different from those New Yorkers who claimed Lin to be one of their own who should be loyal to their city and acted that NYC produced Lin despite he only played 2 months there? See, it's not just Taiwanese or Chinese people. It's just human nature. Everyone likes to be connected to someone famous and wants to claim someone famous as "one of their own". I am sure if you somehow make it big, Clutchfans would like to claim you as "one of our own" as well.
These are the same NYC fans who are right now probably stabbing his image in their lounge rooms right now But that being said I don't think its wrong to like his as a basketball player. All I'm saying is Asian people would never put him in the same light as say Steve Nash (even when Nash was young) who you could argue has a VERY similar profile in terms of development (and I would be awesomely happy if he ever turned out to be Nash for the Rockets). Like Roxxy said before the Asian card is MAJORLY overplayed here and in Taiwan. I mean whats the real difference in terms of development of Lin versus Yi. All I can see is the American background and development. Everyone should aspire to be Lin because of what his done, and not his background. The undrafted bit, the harvard bit, all these things that are not atypical NBA player. You check out those videos and you almost thing Yao Ming has come home to Taiwan
I think that's a key point. No right minded asian parent would want their kids to be in Lin's beginning situation. The adulation he is getting in Taiwan/China seems to ignore his back story and his background. The average Taiwanese person probably only sees the fame and fortune and the Time Magazine/SI covers. The only sane reason I can think of that he is idolized for Asian ballers is because we just have such a big disadvantage physically that his something we can aspire to because his proven the Asian Gene can make it (most asians are atypically guards)
I think it's less about the gene and more about traditional values and the upbringing of young Asians in the past. Less nutrition in the past, more parents not encouraging their kids to be athletes. You sound like Asians can't get the job done. I think what you can't teach is height, and Island countries do not produce tall players in masses. (Japan, Half peninsula Korea, Taiwan) You don't have to be athletic to play the game of Basketball. If you watch Euro players for instance, they rarely rely on athleticism but skills. Now with Yao Ming and Linsanity more young kids will strive to play in the NBA and their parents will be proud.
I read your posts. While I understand what you are saying, I think you got the perspective wrong. Instead of arguing why Chinese shouldn't latch on Lin (there is always plenty of reason to do so), you need to think about why they should. I mean, they already are latching unto him with all kind of positive and inspired emotions. What's the wrong with that? He brought them hope and testimony for Jesus, and isn't that a good thing! You mentioned that you are a devout Christian, so you relate to him that way. You can feel he's one of your own, and somewhere your religious faith might have influenced him to be a humble yet successful baller. If he goes to your church, you would give you a hero's welcome too. What's the difference and problem with that? Should I argue that you shouldn't latch on to him because he's not from your local church, or you both shouldn't latch onto Jesus because you aren't Jews from Galilee? People have the tendency to articulate why others shouldn't feel happy. Don't be like that. Jeremy Lin should be shared or claimed by everyone.
Blame the media , the media started it and the public followed. Same **** in the whole world, the media. Like " The Jeremy Lin Show " was first heard at the NYK vs NYN game in feb 4 by what's his name commentator.
Eh, when Yao Ming came to Taiwan even he didn't get this much attention because he's from the Mainland. They treated him like a celebrity but with Jeremy Lin, it's like the successful son coming to visit. The Taiwanese media isn't latching onto him because of his race, but rather because his story is part of the Taiwanese struggle. When Taiwan was kicked out of the UN, a lot of Taiwanese immigrated to other countries. So just about every single Taiwanese person knows of a friend or family member that went to the abroad, became successful, and returns once in awhile (some even retiring here). He just happens to be one of the more successful ones. When Yo-Yo Ma visits he's also mobbed by fans because he has a similar story. Perhaps you're uncomfortable with people recognizing your Asian-ness, and that's something I've seen with some 2nd/3rd generation Asians. But for native-Taiwanese, who haven't experienced the racism or discrimination to feel ashamed of their identity, they're just rooting for a guy who's a part of the Taiwanese diaspora.
I could imagine there would be quite a number of angry Taiwanese fans stabbing Lin's image if he somehow acquired Chinese citizenship and played for China NT. Lol.
I think the approach should focus on grooming better Taiwanese players only. This superstar thing should remain a side effect. Shouldn't get out of hand.
I actually agree. I'm from HK, and even if an American born, Hk-descent person became a star in the NBA, I wouldn't be that big of a fan for him. IF he was a good enough player? Sure, but not purely because of who his parents were. Yi is different though, he played with Guangdong which is close enough
Everyone has made some really good points. I guess the next question is why did it take an American Chinese to prove Asians can play. Yao is not atypical Asian player(how many 7 foot Asian guys are there anyway). But I find it amusing that China/HK/Taiwan where basketball is so popular has been unable to produce ANY guard prospects. It's taken a guy from San Fran graduated at hArvard and undrafted to capture the Asian populations attention. Why is basketball players so poor coming out of Asia
