The conundrum of Asian-Americans in sports and entertainment

With Jeremy Lin bursting onto the scene, there is a lot of focus already on the NEXT Jeremy Lin.  For example, there is some buzz over Chris Tang, a 6'3' high school sophomore.  Tang was born in China though has lived in the US for the past three years.  He is currently playing basketball in Virginia and high on scouts radars:

Meet Chris Tang:  The Next Jeremy Lin?

It is quite unfortunate, but until Asian Americans start regularly playing in the NBA, almost every good Asian-American player will be looked as the "next Jeremy Lin".   As has been explained many times over, Jeremy Lin was overlooked.  Some may call it racism or stereotyping.  Whatever is was, the fact is that scouts / coaches had no frame of reference for an Asian-American basketball players.  Now that Jeremy Lin has shown up, there is a frame of reference and that will be (at least in the short term) what future players will be measured against.

That is definitely NOT a good thing if you look at the entertainment industries.  For example, the biggest ever Asian-American movie star today is still probably Bruce Lee.  Even thought Lee's been dead for years, he remains as the standard with which Asian / Asian-American actors are measured against.  Asian stars such as Jackie Chan and Jet Li have been unfairly measured against Bruce Lee due to their martial arts backgrounds.   The fact is that Hollywood has been looking for the next Bruce Lee for years and still has not found him.   Yet they continue on the search while Asian-Americans languish in supporting roles.

It is somewhat the same in the music arena.  Before the Far East Movement broke out last year, there had been no major Asian-American music stars.  However, after having two solid songs, Far East Movement has faded somewhat into the background though their single with Justin Biebber is set to break into the Billboard Top 100 next week.

This reminds me of something I saw a few years ago.  There was an Asian American band called At Last.  They were competing on the show America's Got Talent:

At Last - American's Got Talent Semi-Final

As you can see on the video, they are pretty good.  Ultimately they didn't win the competition but had a small following and even released a few independent albums.   After the competition, I followed the band to see how they were doing.  The band kept busy with new albums and tours but otherwise were not signed by any major labels.

I remember reading something online where one of the band members stated:  "Producers told us they didn't know how to market us".  The implication was that Asians aren't seen as music stars and American audiences wouldn't support them.

That indeed is the conundrum that faces Asian-Americans wishing to pursue careers in sports, music, movies and TV.  Jeremy Lin forced the NBA (and  now the basketball world at large) to take a second look at Asian-Americans who may have been previously ignored.  Now, the entertainment industries need to do the same.

I firmly believe American audiences are not dummies.  Like the many different ethnicities that support Jeremy Lin, I believe American audiences CAN and WILL support Asian-American stars in movies, music and TV.  The problem is the entertainment industry wasn't willing to take a chance in the past.  Jeremy Lin's success may have some indirect impact. Once the door is open, it cannot be closed again.

In the meantime, Asian-Americans should continue to pursue their dreams.  It may not be the easiest or smoothest ride but as Jeremy Lin showed, your opportunity may just be around the corner.

How Could Bay Area Colleges pass on Jeremy Lin

(This was a response to something on a Jeremy Lin blog):  


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You know, getting passed by all 300+ schools is an interesting point that has been noted over and over again. However, it never dawned on me until Anonymous / Sydney posted just how big a deal that was. But let's take a step back and only tackle certain schools (to be fair). 

Jeremy Lin sent tapes to the Patriot and Ivy league schools. Only Brown and Harvard showed interest so boo to all the other schools. Jeremy himself said he was interested in UCLA, Stanford and Cal which all didn't work out. I personally wouldn't discount most of the other schools not on this initial list. It seems that Jeremy was looking for good academic schools with athletic programs and not just basketball powerhouses. There may have been lower tier schools that could have used Jeremy but who knows if Jeremy would have attended just because a school offered a scholarship. 

But I don't gave the other Bay Area colleges a pass. Among the Bay Area schools that are Division I, how many of them are "good"? University of San Francisco (USF) and Santa Clara have been mediocre in the WCC. San Jose State is not that good in the WAC. The only team that has been pretty good is St. Mary's. If Jeremy Lin has broken out while playing in the Bay Area, imagine all the attention he would have brought to the programs (then and now that he is in the NBA). 

There are other smaller colleges in CA (UC Santa Barbara, UC Irvine, etc) that probably could have used Jeremy. But there's always complaints about how CA loses it's star basketball players to other schools. They had a chance to keep one and missed badly. Now that is pretty inexcusable.


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Jeremy Lin trying to find his way in the NBA

After a few weeks of speculation, the Golden State Warriors sent rookie Jeremy Lin to the NBA "D-League" after their game Monday evening.  Lin will be playing for the Reno Bighorns team with the intention of getting more playing time and learning to play the point guard position.

The Bighorns actually played tonight (Tuesday) and I got a chance to watch the second half of the game.  Lin scored 10 points (8 in the first half) and here are some my impressions.

The first thing I noticed is that Lin's play tonight was similar to how he was playing with the Warriors.  Two examples of this:

1. Lin would bring the ball up, pass it to the wing and then get out of the way.  His teammates would pass it among themselves and then put up a shot. 
2. Lin would bring the ball up and try to attack the basket.  The couple of drives Lin took ended up being called offensive fouls.  Lin still has not developed a secondary move and teams know he doesn't change direction when he drives.  

The commentators for the game were pretty hard on Lin as they said he needs to look up more, pass the ball earlier and stop trying to go one-on-one. 

I'd have to agree with the commentators that Lin needs to improve his game.  My current impression of Lin is that he is a shooting guard trying to convert to a point guard.  Though Lin played point guard in high school, he was a shooting guard through most of college and I think those college instincts are showing.  

Lin wants to go and attack the basket and then dish out to his teammates.  However, the lanes he had in college aren't quite there.   Lin should be able to pull up for his jumper but he seems reluctant to shoot his jumper in the professional ranks.  Lin's perimeter shooting in college was reasonable and if he could replicate some of his college success, Lin would be able to play much better. 

Lin's best attributes right now is his defense.  Unfortunately, this isn't football where Lin can play only defense.  For Lin to enjoy a long career in the NBA, Lin needs to develop his point guard mindset AND improve his outside shooting.  He's not quite there yet but given Lin's history, I wouldn't doubt his ability.  

Returning Home May Not Have Been the Wisest Choice For Jeremy Lin......

Jeremy Lin's NBA career got off to a good start when he played a solid 12 minutes in a 40 point blowout against the LA Clippers last week.   I'm sure that must have pleased the Warriors and the many Jeremy Lin fans out here in the Bay Area.

However, Lin's second game last Friday proved to be a little more rocky.  He came in with 4 minutes left in the game against the Sacramento Kings.  I personally don't know the score at the time but the Warriors were leading by a decent margin.  Unlike the Clipper game though, the intensity level was still high and that might have unnerved Lin.   He logged about 1 minute and 20 seconds of game time, turning the ball over three times and got yanked by Coach Keith Smart.

On the surface, it looked bad that Lin fared poorly.   However, in an article in the Contra Costa Times, Coach Smart took responsibility for putting Lin into a tough situation:

"Smart took the blame for the struggles of guard Jeremy Lin against the Kings. Lin played for just one minute, 21 seconds and had two turnovers. He looked out of sync. Smart said he put Lin in the game at the wrong time, when Sacramento was pressing to get back in the contest. It wasn't the best situation to put Lin into at this stage, Smart said."

Part of the reason Coach Smart may have put Lin in was because the Warriors fan started calling for him late in the fourth quarter.  This can be seen on the various highlights posted on YouTube.  While I'm not in Coach Smart's shoes, he probably let Lin play both to keep the fans happy and see how Lin could handle the situation.

However, I'm starting to think that Jeremy Lin returning home may not have been the wisest of choices for him.   Lin may have been better in Dallas (or some other city outside of California) where he could practice and work under the radar.

As is Lin is under the microscope more than your typical un-drafted rookie.  Lin is obviously from the Bay Area and has family and friends who will go to his home games.   Being Asian, Lin is drawing exceptional support from the Asian-American community as seen in the videos.    This kind of support is unheard of for a rookie and much needed for a guy who needs to work hard to prove that he belongs in the NBA.

But all of this can be seen as a negative as well.  It can be suffocating to try to live up to the expectations of all those who will be in attendance of home Warriors games this season.   I'm sure Lin is a realist but when you have thousands of fans cheering for you, it is awfully hard to ignore.  Being the perfectionist, he seems to be, I'm sure Lin wants to do well and is disappointed when he doesn't play well.

I hope Warriors fan temper their enthusiasm.  Let's cheer Jeremy Lin on but not go overboard.  It's funny that I probably annoy all of my friends via my various links, blog postings and Facebook postings on Jeremy Lin.   Yet, I have not attended any of the preseason games yet.  My hope is that Jeremy Lin will get plenty of practice time to develop.   Once the regular season rolls around, I hope to see Jeremy Lin out on the court for more meaningful minutes.

The first time I heard about Jeremy Lin

With the Golden State Warriors signing Harvard grad and Bay Area product Jeremy Lin, the Internet has been buzzing with news and blog postings about Jeremy. The news outlets have been going with the "hometown boy does good" story line. There has been many blog postings (including your truly) talking what Jeremy means to the Asian American, Harvard and Palo Alto communities.

However, with all of the focus on Jeremy these days, I feel I should take a step back and talk about when I first heard of Jeremy Lin.

The first time I was aware of Jeremy Lin was sometime during the 2005-2006 high school basketball season (Jeremy's senior year). I can't pinpoint an exact date. However, as a huge basketball fan, I follow a lot of basketball at all levels including youth, high school, college and NBA.

My main recollection is that the San Francisco Chronicle / SFGate mentioning Jeremy Lin and his Palo Alto team being a favorite to get to the California Interscholastic Federation (CIF) State Championship game in Division II. Up to this point, I had not heard of Jeremy Lin or his Palo Alto team. After all, living in San Francisco, I'm usually more focused on how the San Francisco public and private high schools do at the state tournaments than other teams in the Bay Area.

However, I was intrigued about who this Jeremy Lin kid was. As someone who lives here in the Bay Area, it's not unusual to see a ton of Asian kids play basketball at the youth and high school levels. There are some solid players too but they play in obscurity because their teams aren't that good. Not that many of them are Division I or pro material but there's some talent and skill there, even if they aren't the biggest or tallest players around.

However, it was a rare thing to see an Asian kid be the primary focal point of a team that had STATE CHAMPIONSHIP aspirations. From then on, I followed Jeremy and his Palo Alto team through their league playoffs, Central Coast Section (CCS) playoffs, the Northern California playoffs and finally the televised State Championship game between Palo Alto and Mater Dei.

Having never seen Jeremy play before, watching him play on TV for the first time was interesting. He didn't look physically intimidating and I thought his jumper looked a little awkward. However, just as those in the Ivy League and the NBA Summer League found out, Jeremy could play and Palo Alto knocked off mighty Mater Dei to claim the CIF Division II State Championship.

From there, I was curious about Jeremy's future plans. For many of the Asian basketball players I had seen in the past, they might go to play at junior college or small college to continue playing competitively. Many of the same players also played in the various Asian adult leagues and tournaments that are prevalent around the Bay Area and California.

In doing my research, I saw notes that Jeremy wasn't heavily recruited though he might walk on to the local Pac-10 schools. It wasn't until later that I found out that Jeremy was going to Harvard.

The rest, as you might say, is history. I heavily followed Jeremy Lin's career at Harvard through the Internet. Many people don't know that during Jeremy's sophomore year at Harvard, the Harvard team came to play in a tournament at Stanford. Unfortunately, Stanford blew out Harvard and Jeremy didn't score though he did bounce back with better games in the next two games in the tournament. I'm sure Jeremy would have loved to do well in front of the home crowd.

All in all, outside of Jeremy's family, friends, coaches and others from Palo Alto and Harvard, I believe I am may be one of Jeremy Lin's earliest fans (in fact someone pointed out to me they were following him before me....COOL!) . I didn't know if he could make it to the NBA but I was glad to see he had a great career at Harvard.

The fact that the Golden State Warriors have signed Jeremy is an added bonus. Good luck to Jeremy as the 2010-2011 NBA season slowly approaches. Many fans are eagerly awaiting this!

COUPLE OF SIDE NOTES:

1.

An interesting story line that doesn't get mentioned anymore is that Palo Alto was also a favorite to represent Northern California in the state championship during Jeremy's junior season. However, Jeremy decide to play pick up ball a few days before the CIF Northern California championship game and injured himself. Palo Alto would go on to lose in the Northern California championship game. I believe Jeremy himself mentioned this incident motivated him to work hard to get his team back to the State Championship his senior year.

2.

There was an article today in a local newspaper that was discussing how many people in his circle of friends and coaches that believed that Jeremy could make the NBA. Among the people who was interviewed was one Thomas Fang.

Not everyone surprised by Lin in the NBA

Fang was a 6'5" forward who played for Archbishop Mitty High School in San Jose and later walked on to the Cal basketball team. Jeremy's Palo Alto team defeated Fang's Mitty team in the Northern California championship game prior to playing Mater Dei.

When Palo Alto and Mitty played for the Northern California championship in 2006, I thought it was great that TWO ASIAN-AMERICAN kids played an integral part in each of their team's success. Jeremy was obviously the star of Palo Alto. Mitty's star was 6'9" Drew Gordon who would later go to UCLA and now New Mexico. However, Fang was a starter and an all league player in his own right.

Though Fang didn't play much at Cal, he plays in intramurals and other leagues around the area.

Jeremy Lin is coming home to the Bay....as a Golden State Warrior

I play in a summer adult basketball league and my team was beaten tonight 47-30. Afterwards, a few teammates and I headed off to dinner and the discussion wandered off to the Golden State Warriors and Jeremy Lin. Some of my teammates and I had just purchased Warriors season tickets for the upcoming season and we were discussing how to divide the tickets up.

Along the way, we were also discussing where Jeremy Lin would end up (Dallas Mavericks or Los Angeles Lakers). Since I hadn't checked the news in a few hours, I went online via my Blackberry and was stunned to see the news that Jeremy Lin might sign with his hometown GOLDEN STATE WARRIORS!

Various news outlets have confirmed a deal is in the works and could be signed by tomorrow.

It's a good move overall for the Warriors for a couple of reasons:

1. It's a great marketing move. Jeremy Lin is a hometown kid from Palo Alto and sure to draw friends and family to Warriors games. In addition, being Asian-American, Lin is sure to attract many Asian-Americans basketball fans as well.
2. It's a good economic move for the Warriors. Lin was an un-drafted free agent and thus wouldn't command a huge salary. It's a low cost move with the potential for a high reward if Lin shows he can play in the NBA at a solid level.

The signing of Lin is tempered by the fact that the Warriors first round draft pick is out with an injury. In addition, David Lee, whom the Warriors acquired from the Knicks hurt his finger during practice with the USA basketball team.

However, I am personally excited by the prospect of Lin playing on the Warriors. It's the most excited I've been about the Warriors in years.

Jeremy Lin and the Model Minority Myth

There are many stereotypes that Asian-Americans try and fight on a daily basis. One of the major ones is the stereotype that Asian-Americans are a "model minority":

To quote from the wikipedia entry on Asian-Americans and the model minority myth:

"Asians are seen as hardworking, politically inactive, studious, intelligent, productive, and inoffensive people who have elevated their social standing through merit and diligence. This label is given in contrast to other racial stereotypes which routinely accuse minorities of socially unwelcome traits: such as laziness or criminal tendencies."

Personally, I find this very funny as I was never a great student in high school (graduating with a 2.50 GPA or somewhere along those lines). I attended my local State university and graduated with a double degree. All in all, I'm pretty much the anti-Asian Model Minority.

However, along with this model minority myth comes other stereotypes. Asian-Americans become these model minorities through hard work sometimes at the expense of other things. Stories are told of Asian-American parents telling their kids not to date or play sports so they can study to get into the Stanford's and Harvard's of the world. Thus starts the stereotype of the geeky, smart and non-athletic Asian-American kid who can get into college with an academic scholarship but not an athletic scholarship.

However, if you are Asian-American and live in the community on a daily basis, you will know that the model minority stereotype (as with all other stereotypes) are not true. There are smart and academically minded kids. Then there are kids who are more athletically gifted, though not many of them get into the public eye.

However, there are minimal amount of Asian-American athletes in the professional sports world and thus the stereotype of the non-athletic Asian-American still abounds. Therefore when foreign born Asian athletes such as Yao Ming, Ichiro and others made a splash, many Asian-Americans were happy to embrace them even if they didn't share their American born experiences. These were guys who were different and showed a different side of Asians that many people hadn't seen before.

When Jeremy Lin had some breakout basketball performances during his junior year at Harvard, some Asian Americans (including me) began to track him to see if he could make it to the NBA and finally shatter the stereotype of the non-athletic Asian-American.

Despite a good senior year, Jeremy Lin wasn't drafted. Many NBA executives didn't think he was athletic enough to compete in the NBA. However, Jeremy got an opportunity to play in the NBA Summer League in Las Vegas with the Dallas Maverics. While his stats weren't great, he showed poise, leadership and skill against much higher level of talent than he faced during his four years of college ball at Harvard. Thanks to his performances, there are many NBA teams that have shown interest including the defending NBA champions, the Los Angeles Lakers.

The ironic thing with Jeremy Lin? Yes, he's shown he can play basketball with just about anyone. But he did it the "Asian way". He had a 4.2 GPA in high school and played four years of basketball at Harvard and graduated with his degree! Harvard is more known for it's academics than athletics. Compare Jeremy Lin to the many college kids who leave school early to try to play basketball professionally.

Jeremy Lin has shown that it's possible to be both a good student and an NBA caliber basketball player. I am sure Jeremy Lin spent many hours in the classroom studying but also on the basketball court working on his game. These are all things that Jeremy Lin should be commended for.

Asian-Americans have spent many years trying fight the stereotype of the model minority. With Jeremy Lin leading the way, perhaps Asian-Americans need not try to fight the stereotype and instead channel it into other things besides academics. I hope that Jeremy's exploits will convince Asian-American parents to allow their kids to pursue their passions instead of settling for the traditional money making occupations such as being a lawyer, accountant or doctor. Jeremy Lin has shown a smart kid can play basketball. Why can't Asian Americans become singers, actors or other things?

No matter what happens to Jeremy Lin in the near future, he has already left a good example for future generations of Asian-Americans to follow. We just have to be bold to take those steps to pursue our life's passion rather than settling.

Who's the next Jeremy Lin (and why aren't there more of them?)

The NBA finals have ended and once again the Lakers are on top of the NBA world. While I am hardly a Lakers fan, congratulations to them for the repeat championship. It's not something that comes easily and they are deserving of praise of their dedication and effort.

With the NBA finals over, all the NBA teams now look forward to the draft and free agency. With Lebron James's name headlining the free agent class, Asian Americans also have something to look forward to. Many Asian Americans are looking to see if Bay Area product and Harvard basketball star Jeremy Lin gets drafted.

Lin has been preparing and has gotten looks from various NBA teams:

Jeremy Lin looks forward to NBA draft
Jeremy Lin workout with Memphis Grizzlies

Speculation is that Lin may indeed get drafted but in the second round.

As Lin is trying to impress NBA team now, it is good time to look toward the future. Who is the next Jeremy Lin? Unfortunately, there doesn't seem to be any prominent Asian-Americans in college basketball that drew any national attention. The only Asian player I am familiar with (who was born in China) is 7 footer Max Zhang of California. While Max is tall he is just a role player for his Cal team and not going to draw a lot of attention at this point in his career. If he develops and improves him game, maybe he will be the next Yao Ming.

With no prominent Asian Americans in college basketball in the short team, perhaps we will see more in the future with Jeremy Lin's influence. I believe the attention that Jeremy Lin drew in recent years will impact the future generations of Asian-American basketball players. While Asians/Asian-Americans are not highly represented in the NBA (Yao Ming / Yi Jianlian were the only players) or college (very small percentage), there are tons of players at the high school level and below.

That brings up an interesting question. Why have there not been many Asian-Americans like Jeremy Lin who had an impact on college basketball and had a shot at the NBA level?

It is definitely not due to LACK OF INTEREST. Because of the lack of Asian representation at the highest levels of basketball, many media and business folks think Asians are not interested in basketball.

That is not true if you look at the number of youth who participate at the youth and high school levels. Even youth who may not make the school team play for various AAU and/or Asian club basketball teams. Asian-American adults also participate in adult leagues to a large degree as well.

If it's not the lack of interest, is it a lack of talent? I don't think that is the case. I see a lot of talented players at the high school level who lead their teams. These guys wouldn't be on the team if they couldn't play. However, do these players have college and pro level talent? That I can't answer.

To be honest, there isn't one answer to why there hasn't been more Asian-American players in the NBA. I believe it's a combination of things. Asian-Americans sometimes think they are too short or too small to compete against other players. On the other hand, Asian-American parents sometimes push their kids hard academically and athletics are unfortunately left out.

In the future, I believe this will change. Jeremy Lin is every Asian parents dream. A tall guy who excelled academically and went to Harvard. But not only was he good academically, he was good athletically as well.

Asian-Americans have spent years trying to change the myth of the model minority (good academically). With Jeremy Lin, maybe we don't have to. We'll just be good at everything instead!

What do Jeremy Lin, Far East Movement, and John Cho have in common?

This is NOT a trick question. Yes, all the people above are Asian, but that is not the answer I am looking for. I'll give you a few seconds to mull the question over..........................

Time's up! The answer is that all of the above people have some Christian influence in their life. As has been reported by the national media, Jeremy Lin is a Christian. I was listening to some Far East Movement music at a friend's house back in 2009. Another friend who was with us mentioned that the members of Far East Movement had become born again Christians thanks to the influence of Jaeson Ma (http://www.jaesonma.com).

The only person I didn't know about was John Cho. I did some quick research on Google last night and was surprised to find that Cho was the son of a PASTOR! Alas, I couldn't find any information on whether Cho is Christan himself. Regardless if Cho is actually Christian or not, I do believe he grew up with a heavy Christian influence that shaped his life to a certain extent.

As I mentioned in my previous blog posting, John Cho, Jeremy Lin and Far East Movement are current and future role models for Asian-Americans due to their visibility in movies, TV, basketball and music.

What I didn't realize at the time was they all had Christian influences. This makes these guys even BETTER role models regardless if you are Christian yourself. Why? The reason is that many high profile movie, TV, basketball and music stars live a life on the edge. These stars do drugs, sleep with many women and run afoul of the law. However, all of these guys seem to stay out of trouble and do what they're supposed to do.

John Cho, Jeremy Lin and Far East Movement are proving that Asians can succeed in movies, TV, basketball and music. However, they are also doing it in a GOOD way which many people (not just Asian-Americans) can appreciate. This alone should make all these guys worthy of our support!

Jeremy Lin: Asian American Role Model

Last night, at the Leavey Center on the campus of Santa Clara University, a throng of 4,700 fans showed up to watch the basketball game between the Harvard Crimson and the Santa Clara Broncos. The game was a sell out and the largest crowd ever to watch a Santa Clara non-conference basketball game.

While there was a solid throng of Santa Clara students, cheerleaders and band members there, one can safely say that the majority of the other people in attendance were there to watch one person: JEREMY LIN of Harvard.

The 6'3" guard from Palo Alto made what is likely to be his final home appearance in a collegiate uniform. Besides his family, a huge throng of Asian Americans made their way to Santa Clara to watch the best Asian-American college basketball player play.

However, expectations of Lin may have been a little too high. Santa Clara focused their defense on stopping him. Lin did not try to score much throughout the night and finished with 6 points (2-5 FG, 0-2 3PG, 2-5 FT), 9 assists, 4 rebounds, 3 steals, 2 blocks and 4 turnovers. Lin played like he usually does and contributed in every single category. However, after huge scoring games against good competition, the 6 points may have been a let down for the crowd.

The game itself wasn't that great. Both Harvard and Santa Clara struggled in the first half. Both teams went through a scoring drought of 5+ minutes which left the crowd restless. The good news was that Harvard played better in the second half and eventually won the game 74-66. Lin seems like a low key kid and his own personal statistics don't matter to him much as long as his team wins. At 11-3, Harvard is doing well and will begin their Ivy League season in a few days.

Looking past the game itself, I'm very proud that Asian-Americans came out in large numbers to support Jeremy Lin. This fact was noted by many media outlets both local and national. Jeremy Lin, whether he likes it or not, is now a role model to many young Asian-American athletes.

Whether the industry is movies, TV, music, athletics or otherwise, Asian-Americans have had minimal role models to emulate in the past. There have always been foreign born Asians like Yao Ming (basketball) or Jackie Chan (movies). While having some Asians are better than nothing, people like Yao and Jackie Chan do not understand the challenges of growing up Asian in America.

However, I feel like this is the calm before the storm. Jeremy Lin has suddenly stormed into the public spotlight in college basketball. John Cho has gained exposure in movies and TV with Harold & Kumar, Flash Forward and Star Trek. Far East Movement, an Asian-American hip-hop band, garnered national exposure in 2009 with their hit song "Girls On The Dance Floor".

All the people above have given Asian-Americans a slice of the positive representation we've always yearned for and role models in which to emulate. This bodes well for the future as young Asian-American kids grow up. They may decide to be an athlete, actor or a musician all because of Jeremy Lin, John Cho and Far East Movement.

No matter what happens to Jeremy Lin in the future, he has left a legacy for others to follow his footsteps in the future. All one has to do is not be afraid to take those steps. In time, I would hope that it is no surprise that Asian-Americans do well in sports, movies, TV, and music.

Doubting Jeremy Lin

I wrote about Jeremy Lin in mid-November and since then he has caught the attention of the national media after standout performances against the University of Connecticut and Boston College. One of the best articles was written by ESPN writer Dana O'Neil:

ESPN: Immigrant Dream Plays Out Through Son

Being Asian-American and a huge basketball fan, I am thrilled to see Jeremy Lin succeed and garner positive national attention for his skills and accomplishments. I am sure many people in the Asian-American basketball circles all over the United States are quietly cheering for Jeremy Lin. Despite the national attention, I know there are some people who still don't know about Jeremy Lin. I've taken it upon myself (as have many others) to tell their friends about this "Asian kid" who is doing well on the basketball court. Thanks to the power of the Internet, this is very easy to do these days.

Despite Jeremy Lin's success on the court, I have talked to people within the Asian-American community who doubt his skills or look down at his success. There are others who doubt Jeremy Lin can make the NBA. I am a little surprised at this. I would expect that Asian-Americans would back a guy from their own community rather than looking down at his success.

I had to step back and think about why Asian-Americans would doubt Jeremy Lin and I came up with two interconnected reasons:

1. Some Asian-Americans have a self-defeating notion than they cannot compete with other ethnic groups in basketball.
2. They have never seen a guy like Jeremy Lin before and cannot believe an Asian player can compete against other high level players.
   

In regards to item #1, I've heard and read about this from many sources over the years I've been involved in basketball. Many Asian-Americans simply believe they are at a physical disadvantage (height, speed and/or strength) when it comes to playing basketball against other ethnic groups.

When I was younger, I didn't question this notion. After all, it was fairly well known that Asian-Americans were generally smaller in stature than most other ethnic groups. As I've gotten older, I began to realize that Asian-Americans need to reanalyze this notion.

1. Asian-Americans are generally smaller but as Yao Ming (and others) have proven, not ALL Asians are short.
2. Just because someone has height does not make them a basketball player. Just because someone is short, it does not mean they cannot play basketball.
   

I believe Asian-Americans need to get over the notion that they cannot compete because they are short or not as strong. They need to embrace the notion that skill CAN triumph over height if the skill level is great enough. After all, the NBA does have players like Nate Robinson (5'9") and Earl Boykins (5'5") still playing. If these guys can make it, Jeremy Lin (standing 6'3") has a chance as well.

Item #2 is a direct connection to Item #1. Because many Asian-Americans believe that CANNOT compete in basketball, they are surprised that Jeremy Lin can play and play well against other ethnic groups.

Up until recently, video highlights of Jeremy Lin were sparse. In years past, it was easy to see Jeremy Lin's stats and just say "He's doing it against weak competition". However, as Jeremy Lin has garnered national attention, there is no more excuses. Jeremy Lin put up great games against VERY good competition and there are Youtube highlights to prove it:

Jeremy Lin: 30 Points against UCONN

My point in writing all of this? Regardless of whether you think of Jeremy Lin, I think all of us Asian-Americans should SUPPORT him. Any success that Jeremy Lin has on the college (and hopefully professional) level will indirectly help the Asian-American community.

Asian-American role models in the college and professional sports arena are sorely lacking. Jeremy Lin, who by all accounts, is a quiet and humble guy, would make a great role model for future generations of Asian-Americans who want to pursue opportunities in college and professional sports.

What Jeremy Lin means to Asian-Americans

Palo Alto, CA native and current Harvard basketball star Jeremy Lin had a great weekend. He hit a running 3 pointer at the buzzer to allow his Harvard team to stun William & Mary 87-85. Interestingly enough, he was also just featured in an article on Slam magazine's website.

Links here:

Jeremy Lin - Buzzer Beater highlights

Slam Magazine Feature on Jeremy Lin

As an Asian-American AND a basketball fan, I am thrilled that Jeremy Lin is having success on the basketball court at Harvard. I am definitely curious if Jeremy can play in the NBA in the future. While it's unfair to put a lot of burden on Lin's shoulders, I think his success at Harvard (and hopefully in the NBA in the future) will indirectly help Asian-Americans in many ways. Here are some of the ways:

- Changing media representation and stereotypes about Asian males

For whatever reason, Asian males have been stereotyped in the media as geeky and unathletic. Why this is the case is unknown. The fact that Asian representation in major college and professional sports (baseball, basketball, football) is not all that high does not help. When it comes to athletics, Asians are usually not the first people that come to mind.

Jeremy Lin breaks a lot of these stereotypes. First he's playing basketball, a sport that is sometimes looked at as a primarily African-American sport. Secondly, he isn't your typical "short" Asian standing at 6'3" tall. Third, he isn't just a bench warmer. He is a starter for the Harvard team and earned All-League and MVP honors.

- Changing Asian's perceptions about sports

Asian families are really practical. Parents are usually found encouraging (pushing might be the better word sometime) their kids to study hard, get an education, find a job and earn a lot of money. The downside to this is that when the academic demands become too great, parents force their kids to drop some activities. The first activities that usually get dropped are sports. For some reason, certain Asian parents feel that sports is for fun but is not a priority when compared to education. As many Asian kids can attest to, Asian parents always encourage kids to study practical subjects like Accounting, Finance or something in the medical field.

Thus many kids who may have a talent for sports get pushed to study instead. They never get a chance to develop their talents. Jeremy Lin's success in basketball at Harvard may help change that. Harvard is an elite university that DOES NOT offer athletic scholarships. While Lin is a gifted basketball player, the fact that Harvard accepted him into the school means he was a smart kid as well. While I don't know how Lin is doing at Harvard, I think he has proven that sports and academics CAN co-exist, even in college. Asian kids should not longer aspire to simply be an accountant or doctor. They could also dream about being a college basketball (or other sport) player like Jeremy Lin. I would also hope that Asian parents allow their kids to pursue professional sports as a career as well.

I'm going to talk more about this point in a separate post later this week.

- Asian-Americans DO EXIST!

It has been great that Asian-born players like Yao Ming and Yi Jianlian (among others) have made their way to the NBA. As great as it is to have Asians represented in the NBA, these players do not have share or understand the Asian-American experience. Those of us who were born in the United States have vastly different experiences than someone who has lived in China their whole lives. When Yao or Yi speak, they represent "China" but not "Asian-Americans". Yao or Yi cannot understand how it is to be a minority in a country. They don't understand how racism and stereotypes about Asian-Americans exist. The Asian-American experience is one thing that is nearly invisible in the United States. Fortunately many schools have Asian-American Studies courses and many books have been written.

Jeremy Lin could be the bridge to shed light on these experiences. Jeremy may look Asian like Yao or Yi but he is a full-blooded American. If Jeremy can make it to the NBA, he may have a platform that allows him to discuss how it is to be an Asian-American that no other person has ever gotten (short of Bruce Lee).

Jeremy Lin: Best basketball player you've never heard of?

Rich Twu, the founder and commissioner of Dream League (Bay Area adult basketball league) recently posted a two part blog posting on Bay Area native and current Harvard basketball player Jeremy Lin:

The Legend of Jeremy Lin

Twu does a nice job of summarizing the challenges Lin has gone through as a Asian American playing a sport that is primarily thought of as a black or white sport (Yao Ming or other Asian players not withstanding).

I've only been able to watch Jeremy Lin play once when his Palo Alto High School team played Mater Dei in the California State Basketball Championship games. Since Lin has gone to Harvard, I haven't been able to watch his games. Even though I haven't been able to watch his games, I follow everything he does via the Internet.

Twu proclaims that Lin will be the first full blooded American born Asian player in the NBA. I certainly hope this is the case. In all the years since I've been in high school, I've been waiting for Asian players to make it to the NBA. I didn't expect Yao or other Asian born players to make it first. However, the time is now right for a American born Asian player to make it to the NBA.

I'll talk more about Jeremy Lin in future posts as the college basketball season kicks off in a month or so. In the meantime, read Twu's blog posting. It's certainly worth a read!