After coming off of the bench due to necessity for the injury prone New York Knicks, Jeremy Lin has quickly become one of the most spectacular, yet unlikely stars in all of the NBA. Jeremy Lin - the only Taiwanese-American player in the NBA, is making a name for himself, and breaking all sorts of stereotypes in the process. Regarding Asian basketball players, Lin said, "I’ll never forget listening to a Chinese coach tell me that Chinese
players were the equivalent of substandard raw materials, as far as
producing basketball players. The best way to improve them, these
coaches argued, was through relentless and repetitious drilling." Other people believed that the only potential for Asian players were to find 7'5" monsters like Yao Ming. Lin is proving that a 6'3" Taiwanese-American with a ton of heart can be a game changer - 'Linsanity' I believe they call it. It'll be fun to ask people in Taiwan if they have heard of Jeremy Lin!
http://blogs.wsj.com/speakeasy/2012/02/23/jim-yardley-on-how-linsanity-is-changing-basketball-in-china/?mod=google_news_blog
Ben Rindlisbacher
This was a really interesting article to read. I though it was so sad when the Chinese coach compared Chinese basketball players to "substandard raw materials." I was not aware that cultural stereotypes were so prevalent in China against themselves (with regard to basketball). Hopefully, Jeremy Lin's influence will encourage more Asian basketball players to pursue international careers.
ReplyDeleteKatie Robinson