Houston Rockets GM confirms what we already knew re: Jeremy Lin

Opinion

As an Asian American man, I can relate to Jeremy Lin, who at one point was the only Asian American player in the National Basketball Association.

No, I couldn't dunk or execute a pick and roll. My game was journalism. Except for my time at the San Francisco-based Philippine News and at the Bob Maynard-owned Oakland Tribune, I was often the only Asian American in the newsroom.

As I worked my way up the food chain, eventually becoming an editorial writer, I wa able to influence news coverage - especially when it came to covering minority communities. I know if I wasn't there, if I hadn't spoken up, if I hadn't assigned an angle to a story, those stories and perspectives would never have been written.

So, it wasn't surprising to hear an NBA executive admit what Asian Americans already knew -- Lin was often overlooked and underappreciated because he was of Asian descent.

The Houston Rockets and general manager Daryl Morey already had a good idea of what Jeremy Lin was capable of before Lin entered the 2010 NBA draft after starring on the Harvard basketball team.

Morey opened up about their scouting report on Lin on Michael Lewis’ 2016 book titled “The Undoing Project.” On the book, Morey claimed their model told them that Lin belongs in the top 15 of the draft. However, during this time, Morey still didn’t trust their model completely and passed on him, via Reddit (u/shoot_your_shot).

Here’s an excerpt from Lewis' book on Morey's evaluation of Lin:

“He lit up our model,” said Morey. “Our model said take him with, like, the 15th pick in the draft.” The objective measurement of Jeremy Lin didn’t square with what the experts saw when they watched him play; a not terribly athletic Asian kid. Morey hadn’t completely trusted his model - and so had chickened out and not drafted Lin. 

A year after the Houston Rockets failed to draft Jeremy Lin, they began to measure the speed of a player’s first two steps: Jeremy Lin had the quickest first move of any player measured. He was explosive and was able to change direction far more quickly than most NBA players. 

“He’s incredibly athletic,” said Morey. “But the reality is that every **** person, including me, thought he was unathletic. And I can’t think of any reason for it other than he was Asian.”

To his credit, Lin accepted the unasked for role of "representing" Asian Americans and often spoke out about the racial slights he experiences in the league and civil rights abuses that have grown in the US.

In a sense, Lin suffered as the "model minority" in a sport dominated by African American athletes. He was a "smart" "team-first" player; he wasn't athletic enough, fast enough or tough enough; he was seen as a novelty whose position was "given" to him, not an athlete who "earned" his accolades.

"And still, Lin’s stats have been healthier than most would guess," writes Kyle Wagner for the Daily News. "In his healthy seasons, he shoots around 60 percent at the rim, and his true shooting percentage — the gold standard for an “efficient” player — has flirted with very good to elite levels. He has been an undeniably useful guard."

Over the weekend, sadly told a church audience in Taiwan, “Free agency has been tough because I feel like in some ways the NBA has kind of given up on me.” 

That's too bad. Lin is not a great player, but he's a good player and at 30 years of age, better than many other guards who have signed multi-million dollar contracts.

Linsanity is a distant memory, but Lin's story chipped away at old stereotypes and biases that Morey's admission proves are difficult to undo -- and, we're not talking just about the NBA.

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