Jordan Clarkson jams on 7-foot, 1-inch center

Jordan Clarkson finishes his mammoth dunk over Suns' center Alex Len.

OH MY! That was a pretty impressive dunk by Lakers guard Jordan Clarkson over Alex Len of the Phoenix Suns in their Sunday (Jan. 3) game in Los Angeles.

The video of the dunk by the 6'-5" Filipino/American on the 7'-1" center went viral as did the reaction of the Lakers bench.

"All I remember is (Kobe Bryant) telling me that I've been going to the hole like a light-skin dude. I got to start going like a dark-skin. So, when I saw the lane open up, that's all I remember," Clarkson described what exactly was going through his head as he drove through the open lane and delivered a violent slam dunk that got a reaction out of the 18,997 fans in attendance at Staples Center.

The L.A. Times pointed out that comments by Clarkson, whose mother is Filipina and father is African/American, unintentionally played into stereotypes implying that lighter-skinned African/Americans can be passive, but darker-skinned African/Americans are more aggressive.

The Lakers won 97-77, for their third victory in a row. They host the champion Golden State Warriors Tuesday. (Correction: In earlier versions of this post, the game with the Warriors was written "Wednesday in Oakland.)

The funniest part of the video is the Lakers bench as it went into a frenzy that included a mock resuscitation on Nick Young. 

For more news about Asian/Americans & Pacific Islanders at AsAm News.

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Jeremy Lin opens up about race

Jeremy Lin, left, drives past a defender.

JEREMY LIN, guard for the L.A. Lakers, opens up about being Asian American in the National Basketball Association in an article by Pablo Torre on ESPN.

Three years from the Linsanity phenomenon, Lin rarely mentions that word any more.The season hasn't been going the way Lin hoped for when he was traded to the Lakers from the Houston Rockets.

Maybe it is because ESPN.com senior writer Pablo Torre is a Filipino American - a fellow Asian American - that Lin felt comfortable enough to let the public mask down. Here's a sample:

Pablo Torre

"There's this whole thing where it's OK to make fun of certain guys more than it is other guys," Lin tells me. "And Asians are very easy to make fun of. We're the model minority. So everyone can joke about Asians: They're nice people, respectful people; they won't do anything." He thinks about this dynamic often. "People look at me, and they've always jumped to conclusions. They don't see toughness. But how do you define that?"

For once, we see past the athlete, past the public persona ... past the image built by the New York media and ignored by the L.A. media.

I know the feeling Lin's expressing. People look at you and because you wear glasses, have black hair and almond eyes and your skin is of a certain shade, you are judged, categorized and pigeon-holed before you even utter a word. Inside, you're yelling, "You don't know me!"

There's a loneliness to being a trail-blazer, says Lin, "who can you talk to that can really relate?"

Nice job by Pablo. Nice job, Jeremy.

Jordan Clarkson & Jeremy Lin form NBA's first Asian American backcourt

Rookie has best night in his career, scores 30

Jordan Clarkson in action against the Golden State Warriors.

A LITTLE BIT of history occurred Thursday (March 24) when the Lakers sported the NBA's first Asian American backcourt of Jeremy Lin and rookie Jordan Clarkson.

Clarkson, a Filipino American, scored a career high of 30 points. He added seven assists for his best showing in his debut season. Together with Lin, the backcourt scored 49 of the Lakers 117 points in a losing effort against the 127 points of the Oklahoma City Thunder.

The 6'5" guard had everything going for him that night, dunks, ball handling, breakaway speed, and decision making. Watch young Clarkson's game highlights below. 

RELATED: Filipino American playing for the Los Angeles Lakers