Jeremy Lin returns to New York with a fatter wallet

By Louis Chan
AsAmNews National Correspondent

Jeremy Lin announced Friday via Twitter that he’s returning to New York where Linsanity all began.

Lin won’t be returning to the New York Knicks. He’ll be signing a three year deal with the Brooklyn Nets worth $36 million

That’s a huge boost over what he made with the Charlotte Hornets, which was estimated to be two year, $4 million. Lin opted out of his last year for free agency which officially got underway Thursday.

RELATED: How Big of a Pay cut is Jeremy Lin taking?

It’ll be great to see Lin back in the spotlight of New York. While not as big as the one on the Knicks, expect the sale of Lin jerseys to take off as media coverage of him will indeed intensify.

RELATED: Jeremy Lin opens up about race

That seemed to be Stephon Marbury’s takeaway from the Jeremy Lin signing, with the ex-Nets and Knicks guard tweeting that “The NBA used my man to attract the Asian Market. I don’t think the money is about basketball.”

Lin agreed to a three-year, $36 million deal with the Nets — a big contract but certainly not a crazy one, like the $64 million Timofey Mozgov got from the Lakers or the $120 million Nic Batum is getting — and one of Marbury’s followers suggested the Brooklyn’s money would’ve been better spent on the Coney Island product, leading Marbury to chime in.

RELATED: What's up with Jeremy Lin's hair?

Charlotte is only the latest in a long list of cities and teams that Lin has called home in his six seasons with the NBA. Before the Hornets, he played for the Los Angeles Lakers, Houston Rockets, New York Knicks, and Golden State Warriors.

RELATED: Fit in or be true to yourself?

In an April interview with the Charlotte Observer, Lin, who is the first American-born NBA player of Chinese or Taiwanese descent, expressed a "wistfulness" for California, where he was born and raised. "Sometimes I miss being able to get Asian food, or Asian dessert, or stuff like that. I miss seeing Asian people," Lin said. "But we travel enough, and I get to see my friends a lot. It's all good."

When Lin returns to New York, he will also be reunited with current Nets coach Kenny Atkinson, who was the assistant coach for the Kicks during his 2011-2012 run. He will likely be in the starting lineup with the Nets after being the good soldier and coming off the bench with Charlotte.

“I’ve played six years in the NBA; I’ve played on five different teams. I’ve played for two D-League teams — so seven cities in six years,” Lin said during a recent interview with the World Economic Forum. “I’m tired of boxes, I’m tired of moving companies, and I want to find a home.”

With $12 million a year, he can afford a pretty good home, even at New York City prices.
(Views From the Edge contributed to this report.)

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All fouled up: Is basketball's Jeremy Lin a victim of on-court bias?

BASKETBALL is supposed to be a non-contact sport but any fan of the NBA knows this is far from the truth.

For one fan of the best Chinese/American pro-basketball player Jeremy Lin, (Well, the ONLY Chinese/American pro-basketball player) this discrepancy just got to be too much. Hsiu-Chen Kuei of San Jose, Calif. put together a six-and-a-half minute video showing the hard fouls being committed against her favorite player - fouls that were not being called by the referees. It went viral.

She uploaded the video "Jeremy Lin: Too Flagrant Not to Call," on April 5 and since then has attracted millions of views and comments, including a good portion from Asia, one of the NBA's growing markets.

RELATED: The Golden State Warriors' Asian connection

The point of the video is that Lin is the victim of hard, perhaps flagrant and deliberate fouls that for whatever reason, goes uncalled by the NBA referees. It shows him him being shoved, clotheslined, whacked and thrown to the floor. In one instance, his nose is bleeding from an obvious hit to the face and there was no call.

Some commenters contend that because Lin is an Asian/American, he is being targeted by other players and not being protected by the officials. Some players believe he doesn't belong in a sport where Asian/American and Asian players are still a rarity. Lin has been 
defying that stereotype his entire career.

Kuei's video attracted the attention of the NBA and it felt compelled to respond. The league is backing the officials, encouraging unhappy fans to read the rules about different fouls, according to the NY Times. That's a pretty poor excuse in my mind. Either call the fouls or don't call them. For the sake of entertainmen valuet, the NBA obviously has opted for the latter.

Regular readers of this blog know that I'm a Golden State Warriors fan. I could put together a similar video of Stephen Curry and the no-calls on hard fouls on the MVP. His arms and face are often black and blue after a hard-fought game. 

The no-calls against undersized players who depend on deception, ball handling and speed to play the game versus brute strength or height can sometimes be exasperating.

RELATED: What's up with Jeremy Lin's hair?

I know it is frustrating for bigger players to have someone like Lin or Curry dribble around them to go to the basket and perhaps some of the fouls are a result of that frustration. Racism? That's a tough call. More likely it is simply poor officiating but that's the problem with racist tendencies. Too often, a person isn't aware of how his or her perception of another person is swayed by the racist enviornment in which they were raised.

Lin - the classy guy that he is - just shrugged off the no-calls as being part of the game. He's been in the league six years, now and he's used to the physicality of the pro-game. 

For Lin, playing for the playoff-bound Charlotte Hornets, it's more a matter of consistency. A few times this year, he's shown flashes of the form that  gave birth to Linsanity, but not often enough.

"I'm just happy that people are noticing this," Kuei told the NY Times. "It's not about views. I didn't get money or anything. I didn't want attention. I just want Lin to get fair calls."

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Jeremy Lin joins James Hardin, Stephen Curry for a dinner to celebrate Chinese New Year

THE NATIONAL BASKETBALL ASSOCIATION is celebrating the Chinese New Year with a TV spot featuring Jeremy Lin, Stephen Curry and James Harden.

The ad is called "Dining Table" and shows the stars sharing a New Year meal with a Chinese family. It is being broadcast until Feb. 22 across all of NBA China's television and digital partners' platforms.

The Chinese New Year is Feb. 8 and celebrates the year of the monkey. Lin plays for the Charlotte Hornets and is the first American-born NBA player of Chinese or Taiwanese descent.

Last year, the Rockets and the Warriors featured t-shirts with a Chinese-theme design. This year, Washington will wear uniforms with the team name in Chinese writing in addition to hosting events in their respective arenas.

Continuing their outreach to their huge Asian fan base in the San Francisco Bay Area and in Asia, the NBA Champion Golden State Warriors will first wear their 2015-16 season Chinese New Year uniforms on the court during a road game on Wednesday, February 3 at Washington in honor of the start of Lunar New Year, held February 7–13. 

RELATED: The Golden State Warriors' Asian connection 

The team will sport the Chinese-themed threads again during Lunar New Year on Tuesday, February 9 when the Warriors hold their official Chinese New Year Celebration, presented by Lucky Buddha Beer, at Oracle Arena when they face the Houston Rockets. 

Last year's Chinese New Years uniform
as modeled by forward Harrison Barnes.

To conclude the 2016 Lunar New Year, the Club will wear the Chinese New Year uniforms for the final time during the 2015-16 season on Friday, February 19 at Portland.

On Tuesday, January 26, from 4:00 p.m. – 5:00 p.m. Warriors Guard Klay Thompson will first show the new 2015-16 threads in Chinatown in San Francisco to celebrate Lunar New Year and tour San Francisco’s oldest alley way in Chinatown, Ross Alley, according to the team's website. 

Thompson, who will be wearing the new uniform, will start the tour at Ross Alley Gallery (41 Ross Alley). 

The group will also make several stops before  ending at the Fortune Cookie Factory where Thompson will participate in making traditional Chinese fortune cookies. 

RELATED: Filipino fans make up a third of Warriors Facebook friends

“We have an amazing following from our Chinese fans both here in the Bay Area and abroad,” said Warriors President and Chief Operating Officer Rick Welts. “Hosting a Chinese New Year celebration at Oracle Arena and wearing the uniforms to honor Lunar New Year is a great way to not only connect with the Asian culture, but thank our fans for supporting us throughout the season.”

For the first time, 51 live games broadcast and streamed by 10 broadcasters in Greater China, showcasing all 30 NBA teams; and the Chinese New Year Celebration Season of Giving initiative for underprivileged communities in China.

Yao Min, who played center for Houston, introduced NBA-style basketball to fans in China, where he is viewed as a national hero. China. with a population of 1.4 billion, is seen by the NBA as a market with huge potential.

The Warriors, who were one of the first NBA teams to launch a Weibo account, (the Chinese equivalent to Facebook) weibo.com/warriors, have nearly 2 million followers on Weibo, the highest in the NBA and regularly are one of the top teams in the league in engagement metrics on the platform including impressions, reposts, comments and likes. In addition, the Warriors were one of the first NBA teams to have a Chinese website, china.nba.com/warriors, and regularly conduct Q&A’s on Weibo and Tencent.

It is clear that the marketing team over at the Warriors are aggressively pursuing the Asian and Asian/Americans markets. Just last week, they posted a "thank you" graphic in Pilipino to the 2 million fans in the Philippines who joined their Facebook page, over a third of the 5.6 million total "likes" the page has collected.

For more news about Asian Americans & Pacific Islanders, go to AsAm News.

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Jeremy Lin: On "The Silicon Valley Suicides"

Atlantic graphic

RECENTLY, Jeremy Lin got a lot of attention because of his changing hairstyles even getting mentioned in a nationally published magazine.

When the NBA player posted on his Facebook page his thoughts on suicide, not so much. 

Reading "The Silicon Valley Suicides," in this month's Atlantic magazine caused Lin to reflect on his own high school years, darkened by the suicide of two his classmates, the pressures he placed on himself and the pressures he felt coming from others' expectations of him.

"The pressure to succeed in high school is all too familiar to me. I distinctly remember being a freshman in high school, overwhelmed by the belief that my GPA (grade point average) over the next four years would make or break my life. My daily thought process was that every homework assignment, every project, every test could be the difference," he writes on his Facebook page.

The Atlantic article written by Hanna Rosin focused on a couple of suicide clusters that occurred in Palo Alto, smack dab in the middle of Silicon Valley, the cradle of 21st century innovation.

"Since I went to Stanford, in the early ’90s, the surrounding public schools have been utterly transformed by the tech explosion," wrote Rosin. "Gunn, and to a lesser extent Palo Alto High School, is legendary all over the world. Steve Jobs’s old house is in the neighborhood. Chinese patriarchs buy homes in the community and send their families, so their kids can go to school there. Parents sacrifice vacations and plan their budgets carefully so they can afford a house in the district."

Not all the kids who committed suicide in Palo Alto, where Jeremy Lin went to school, were Asian/American, but there was no denying that some Asian/American students were under some - sometimes unsaid - pressure to succeed academically. Rosin wrote:

Tragedies do not always bring people together; sometimes they just deepen the rifts between them. The day after Byron Zhu died, a Paly senior named Andrew Lu posted on his blog a diagram of three circles, labeled “Palo Alto,” “Male,” and “Asian.” “It seems that the demographic most at risk are Asian (Chinese) males in high school (hey, that’s what I am!),” he wrote. Three of the boys who had died in the past academic year had at least some Asian heritage. 

Andrew was broaching a very touchy subject, one that had come up more rudely in comments on Palo Alto Online. Heavy stress among “good kids” was the product of “a nasty competitive atmosphere contrived by unethical Tiger Mothers,” one commenter wrote. At the end of some of my conversations, a student, teacher, or counselor would look around to make sure no one was listening and then whisper a story about an Asian kid being punished or even kicked out of the house for a night after getting a B or failing to get into Stanford. I’d heard how new East Asian immigrant parents mistakenly transposed the reality of education in, say, China or Korea, which is that how you do on a single test can determine your entire future. Gunn is more than 40 percent Asian, and some non-Asian parents, particularly ones who’d grown up in town when the Asian population was smaller, felt the shift was poisoning the culture of the entire school.

The Atlantic article raises questions about a value that is part of the Model Minority trope and should make us stop and ponder the possible unintentional ramifications of those values. It should be noted that the vast majority of Asian/Americans grow up to be well-adjusted, healthy and successful individuals. 

Contrary to popular myth fed by the Tiger Mom archetype, Asian Americans do not have a higher suicide rate than other racial and ethnic groups. However, data in the National College Health Assessment Survey seem to indicate that Asian/American college students have suicidal thoughts and attempt suicide more frequently than their peers.

But what both the Rosin and Lin emphasize, we shouldn't  expect our young people to react in the same way, even though the environment they are in may be similar.

As we know, Lin survived high school. He found his close relationship with his Christian faith  and his parents to be his saving grace, but that might not be the solution for everyone. Lin went on to Harvard and onto a life in the NBA. In each stage of his life he had to meet everyone's expectations and defy the Asian stereotypes, which puts an awful lot on his shoulders.

Lin's Facebook entry drew lots of reaction.

"As an Asian American bicultural and bilingual psychologist I’ve had the privilege to work with so many over-pressured youth and loving but misguided parents who believe that their child’s exhaustion, anxiety, depression can be overcome by just not talking about it,” wrote Neleh Chimera. “Thank you for writing this — it will touch many young lives.”

Generally, Asian/Americans don't like to talk about mental health issues but not talking about it will make this issue go away. There is a dire need to gather more data on this subject considering the wide breadth of the 50 ethnic groups that fall under this broad Asian American category and their mental health needs vary as widely as their economic, educational and social status.

"We may not have the answers to how to completely solve these issues, but we can take more time to really listen to each other, to reach out and have compassion on one another," Lin concludes. "I don’t have any great insight and I don’t know exactly what it’s like to be a high school student today. I do know that I’m proud to be from Palo Alto, a resilient community that I see striving to learn how to better support and care for each other. I hope that my personal experience can remind someone else that they are worth so much more than their accomplishments."

***

FOR ASSISTANCE

Suicide is the 11th leading cause of death in the United Sates and 8th among Asian Americans. 

If you are concerned that you or someone you know may be at risk for suicide, we strongly encourage you to do one or more of the following: 

• Contact a mental health provider within your community. 
• Call 1-800-273-8255 (TALK), the National Suicide Prevention Hotline, for a referral. (More than 150 languages are offered)
• Call 1-877-990-8585, Asian LifeNet Hotline (24 hours). (Cantonese, Mandarin, Japanese, Korean, Fujianese are offered)
• In the United States, call 911.
• In addition, each state and county have their own hotlines. 

Do not leave the person alone even after phone contact with an appropriate professional has been made.

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What's up with Jeremy Lin's hair?

Jeremy Lin's hair-dos and don'ts have evolved through the years.

SO, ... what can you say about Jeremy Lin's hair?

The hair style sported by Jeremy Lin that caught GQ's attention.

How a man wears his hair says a lot about the guy, so they say. I used to believe that.

We all go through "phases"  in our tonsorial life. I went through several hairstyles in my attempt to bring attention to myself. From the "good boy" look with lots of pomade, rebellious Sal Mineo style with lots of pomade, California relaxed surfer style, the modified "mod" Beatle-like cut, long past the collar, my "adult" look with lots of mousse, eventually resorting to the embarrassing comb-over and, finally, to my current style, which is shaved. (Which, by the way, attracts too much attention from airport security. Just saying!) It all got to be too much.

Jeremy, the only Chinese/American player in the NBA, is getting a lot of attention these days because he changes his hair so often. He has even generated some scorn in GQ, which struggled with what to call his latest style. Man-bun? Top-Knot? Samurai? Or, as some have speculated, a modern-day version of the pig-tail worn by Chinese coolies in the 19th century.

His hair style hasn't changed his style of play, which some say is reckless abandon or daring. His play generates almost as many adjectives as hair style.

RELATED: Jeremy Lin opens up about race

I think Jeremy's changing hair is - in a way - his attempt to counter stereotypes. It's his own private joke on a society that wants to pigeonhole him. 

The native of the San Francisco Bay Area talked about the racial bias he's encountered as a professional baskeball player and the stereotypes he's had to disprove over and over again: can't jump, not fast enough, can't shoot, not aggressive, He's been defying stereotypes his whole life. His hair is just another way of dismantling the unathletic-Asian stereotype that has been imposed on him - from the height of LInsanity to his current team,  the Charlotte Hornets - there's a lot we can learn from his story.

Jeremy Lin should be able to wear his hair any darn way he wants to.

UPDATED: Since this post was written, Jeremy Lin wrote an essay in the Oct. 3, 2017 issue of The Players' Tribune about his most recent hair style.

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Jeremy Lin: Fit in, or be true to yourself?

WITH THESE two videos from his Youtube channel, Jeremy Lin takes the look at the dilemma many of us have faced at some point in our lives: How far do you have to go to "fit in" and in doing so, at what point do you lose who you really are?

Fortunately, the guard for the NBA's Charlotte Hornets has a defense mechanism that allows him to  is laugh off the situations he finds himself in as one of only two players of Asian descent in a sport dominated by African/American athletes.

For many of us, the hurt and anguish caused by this common dilemma, is too great to be laughed off. 

RELATED: Jeremy Lin opens up about race

In interviews, Lin has acknowledged the difficulties he has had to face to overcome the stereotypical views some of his former teammates had for Asian/American athletes: Not fast, can't shoot, can't jump, not aggressive. 

As I watched the videos, I laughed because Jeremy is a funny guy; but it's also too easy to empathize because - to a lesser degree - I've experienced the duality that most of us "minorities" have had to endure. Then the long pause occurs ... personal memories flood back in.

Jeremy Lin: Laugh and the world laughs with you.

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Jeremy Lin signs with the Charlotte Hornets

Jeremy Lin was reportedly not happy on the Los Angeles Lakers.

ONE-HALF of the NBA's first all-Asian American backcourt is leaving. Jeremy Lin used his Facebook page to announce last night that he was going to the Charlotte Hornets, departing the Los Angeles Lakers after a disappointing season. 

Today (June 9), the Hornets made the signing official, signing the point guard on the first day the league allowed free agent signings.

"Going into my first true free agency as an NBA player this off-season, the one thing that mattered to me the most was finding a team that would be a good fit for me," Lin wrote on his official site. "I wanted to be on a team where I would be able to play freely and truly play the game I love with joy again. That has always been the most important thing to me. After a LOT of prayer and long discussions with family and friends, I wanted to personally let you guys know I'll be joining the Charlotte Hornets."
________________________________________________________________________________         Related: Jeremy Lin on Linsanity, the Lakers, and that Kobe Bryant Vine

               Jeremy Lin opens up about race

               Lin and Clarkson form first Asian American guard tandem
________________________________________________________________________________

"My journey has never looked the way I (or anyone else) thought it would, but God has always worked things out for my good and I am confident that he will continue to do so," Lin continued. "I want to thank Coach Clifford and the Hornets organization for this opportunity - for taking the time to talk to me, understanding my game, and most importantly, making it clear they believe in me. For those of you who have been patiently waiting for news, from the bottom of my heart, thank you for joining me on this journey. To the Lakers organization and the city of Los Angeles, thank you for your support this past season."

Lin never met the high expectations that comes with his $14-million salary. With the Lakers, Lin started as the backup guard behind superstar Kobe Bryant. When Bryant got injured midseason, Lin became the primary point guard. But that didn't relieve him of the pressure of L.A.'s spotlight because of - well, - because the team was the high profile Lakers in a city that loves its superstars. It was clear that Lin was not comfortable with the L.A. team. He was often the target of derision from Bryant on and off the court.

When Lin played with rookie shooting guard Jordan Clarkson, a Filipino/American, they formed the first Asian American backcourt in professional basketball.

Signing with the Hornets takes the burden of high expectations off his shoulder. He will be the sixth man, the first man off the bench. Charlotte Hornets general manager Rich Cho says signing Lin offers his team a “different dimension” at point guard.

“One thing he can really do is get into the paint,” Cho said in a conference call with Charlotte media. “With our second unit, that’s important. We have several players in our second unit who can benefit from that. All of them will benefit from his ability to get shots for others.”

Read more here: http://www.charlotteobserver.com/sports/nba/charlotte-hornets/article26864698.html#storylink=cpy

"The team's needs should also benefit Lin, who has also looked his best when he can dominate the ball," wrote Yahoo Sports' Eric Freeman. "Unlike many role players, he thrives when more is asked of him."

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

Asian American athletes "can't breathe"

Lakers show their colors

Jordan Clarkson (end from left) and Jeremy Lin (far right) joined their teammates on the L.A. Lakers to express their views on the grand jury decisions for no indictments in the killings of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri and Eric Garner in Staten Island, NY. (Washington Post photo)

ERIC GARNER'S last words as he was being choked to death was "I can't breathe, I can't breathe, I can't breathe."

His words have become a rallying cry for those who believe an injustice was committed when a Staten Island Grand Jury chose not to indict the police officer that used an illegal choke hold on Garner. Black athletes in particular have begun to publicly bare their sympathies by wearing t-shirts with the words "I can't breathe" emblazoned on the shirts.

Last Tuesday (Dec. 9) the entire L.A. Lakers NBA team (except for one player) wore the black t-shirts during warm-up.

Jeremy LIn and Jordan Clarkson - Chinese American and Filipino American respectively - showing their support, were the first Asian-American professional athletes to don the shirts this week along with the rest of the team, including Kobe Bryant, the team's best player.

The players had the support of their coach Byron Scott. “Freedom of choice and freedom of speech,” Scott said. “That’s their choice and whatever they choose, from my standpoint as a coach, I’m going to support them, but that’s their choice.”

“I think it would be a serious disservice to limit this to a race issue. It’s a justice issue," said Bryant. “You’re kind of seeing a tipping point right now, in terms of social issues. It’s become now at the forefront right now as opposed to being a local issue. It’s really been something that has carried over and spilled into the mainstream, so when you turn on the TV and you watch the news or you follow things on social media, you don’t just see African-Americans out there protesting.”

Some people may argue that athletes shouldn't use their celebrity status to voice their opinions.

Why not? They're Americans, too.

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Filipino American playing for the Los Angeles Lakers

Jordan Clarkson was drafted by the Los Angeles Lakers.

CAN YOU name the NBA team that could possibly make history by featuring an All-American Asian-American guard tandem? 

Can you name the first Filipino American to be drafted by an team in the National Basketball Association?

That's a trick pair of questions. The answer to question one is: The 2014-15 Los Angeles Lakers.

The answer to question two is Raymond Townsend, who was drafted by the Golden State Warior in 1978.

One of the Los Angeles Lakers picks in the 2014 draft was Filipino American Jordan Clarkson, a 6'5" guard who played at University of Missouri. He was initially drafted 46th by the Washington Wizards but was subsequently acquired by the Lakers.

While Clarkson is not the first Filipino American in the NBA, he is the first in 35 years. Bay Area product Townsend played for the Warriors and ended up his career with the Indiana Pacers in 1982. For a few more years, he played for a couple of European professional teams. 

Ricky Brown was drafted in 1979 by the Houston Rockets. After a short NBA career, he went on to have an illustrious career in the PBA and played for the Philippines in international competition. 

Ever since Brown and Townsend, there has been a dearth of Filipino American basketball players until last Spring. (CORRECTION: My fault, but in an earlier version of this, spellcheck changed the spelling of "dirth" to something disparaging of Filipino American players. My apologies)  

Lakers general manager Mitch Kupchak describes Clarkson as "a ball-handling guard that we're excited about drafting." "He's got great size," Kupchak continued. "Good athlete. Really good size. Good defender. Excels probably at attacking the rim. Maybe not as good of a shooter, probably, as he will be when he works on it. He left school a year early. He transferred. So, I'm sure he was thinking that maybe he would get drafted higher and maybe he has a chip on his shoulder -- an expression you've heard today -- to come out and prove something. But we liked his size and we liked his skill at that position." 

During the off-season, the Lakers also acquired Jeremy Lin, a San Francisco Bay Area-raised Lin played for Warriors, Houston Rockets, New York Knicks before coming to the Lakers. It was during his New York stint when he generated so much excitement with his scoring and playing style that the New York media dubbed it "Linsanity."

If the Lakers put both Lin and Clarkson on the floor at the same time, they could make history by becoming the first Asian-American backcourt in the NBA.

While playing for Mizzou, he was being scouted by some Philippine Basketball Association teams. He could have played for the PBA if no NBA teams showed any interest. Filipinos are basketball-maniacs and love ball handling skills over height. No doubt, he'll be embraced by Filipino American communities, despite playing for the Lakers. 

The sound you hear is another blow to the Asian American male stereotype, reinforced by the performances of Asian American baseball players in the post-season that belie the traits of weakness, unaggressiveness and nerdiness attributed to Asian men.

Clarkson's mother is Annette Davis, who was born in Angeles City in the Philippines.

Clarkson joins a Lakers team that has fallen on hard times. Even then, he may have a hard time finding some playing time playing behind the baseball legends Kobe Bryant and Steve Nash and backed by Lin, who has years of experience on the 22-year-old Clarkson.

"I'm a rookie coming in here," Clarkson admits. "I;m just trying to prove myself. I'm going to do what I do best and try my hardest."

Here's an assessment of Clarkson's abilities by Nbadraft.net

Quick guard with good size who has displayed point guard ability … Ran point the majority of the time during his lone season at Missouri ... Has a strong handle and displays solid vision … Has the ability to post up smaller players and still has quickness to create off of the dribble … Athleticism also allows him to take advantage of bigger defenders, can shoot over them off of the bounce or take them to the basket … Can score from all three levels and is able to create his own offense … Gets low on both ends of the court, moves quite fluidly … His lateral quickness and size gives him potential as a defender, could be versatile guarding the perimeter … Excels at pulling up off of the dribble, giving him the potential to develop a floater as well as spot up ability … Got to the foul line fairly often, shooting 83.1% from the stripe, which would lead many to believe he has a lot of potential from midrange … Has displayed some outside shooting ability. He can be streaky in a good way at times … Used to playing big minutes, and is in excellent condition … Really good body control, use it to create space for opportunities and finishes well around the basket… Decent rebounder given his position, aggressive around the ball … Provides versatility at the guard spot, size and length to defend multiple positions ...

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Jeremy Lin startles visitors at Madame Tussaud's San Francisco

EVER VISIT a wax museum and pose with the wax celebrities? It's kind of a cheesy activity but it is kind of fun, too. I did the touristy thing in a recent New York visit.

LA Laker Jeremy Lin, who grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area, had a little fun with visitors to Madame Tussaud's at San Francisco's Fishermen's Wharf in the video above.

Even Lin, who isn't embarrassed being called a "jock," has had his difficulty overcoming

Linsanity was born in New York.

the stereotype of Asian men. When asked why he didn't get a college basketball scholarship after leading his Palo Alto High School team to a state championship, Lin responded, "Well, the obvious thing in my mind is that I was Asian American which, you know, is a whole different issue, but ... I think that was a barrier."

He had good enough grades to be accepted at Harvard where he joined the team as a walk-on. He was first drafted by his hometown Golden State Warriors then traded to the New York Knicks where he warmed the bench.

An injury to the starting guard forced the coach to put in Lin and the rest is history: "Linsanity" was born.

Despite his box office attraction and the positive media that he generated, Jeremy was traded by the Knicks to the Houston Rockets the following season. As a Rocket, he blasted off at first but his playing time fizzled and soon found himself the odd man out - as a super sub, the sixth man. 

During the off season this year, he was traded again to the Los Angeles Lakers where he was warmly welcomed by SoCal's Asian Americans. Expect to see a  lot more Asian faces at the Staples Arena during the Lakers games' broadcasts this coming NBA season.

Take a look at Jeremy Lin's interview aired on "60 Minutes." 

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Cheering on Kei Nishikori

KEi NISHIKORI, rising tennis star.

PROFESSIONAL TENNIS PLAYER Kei Nishikori is the latest Asian male to defy the American stereotype of Asian men.He is the first Asian man to reach a Grand Slam final since Michael Chang in 1989. Even though Nishikori is ranked 10th in the world, he is a virtual unknown to America.

We're about to get to know him now though. The 24-year-old Nishikori stunned No. 1 Novak Djokovic to advance to the finals of the U.S. Open. He plays Marin Cilic today (Sept. 8) for the championship. He's a slight favorite. Tennis analysts will be talking about him, his back story and how he rose in the tennis world. At least they should. I hope they treat him the way the treat all the star players when they hit center court.

We'll cheer for him - yes, because he's Asian, and because he is one of us, he is me. His victory is a victory for every Asian man who has been tortured by the demeaning, weak, second-fiddle, neutered, invisible image that has been perpetuated by the dominant society. 

The Asian male's asexual stereotype is the exact opposite of the exotication (I made up that word) of Asian women in which they become objects of male fantasies.  

The Asian men's stereotype continues to exist despite so much evidence to the contrary starting with Lapu Lapu's attack on Magellan's crew which resulted in the Spanish explorer's death, warriors of Asian legends all the way to the 442nd Regiment of World War II, martial artist and actor Bruce Lee, basketball player Jeremy Lin and boxing champion Manny Pacquiao.

Few things tick me off more than someone saying that Asian men are not attractive, or a woman saying she is not drawn to Asian men because they don't fit the anglo, sharp nose, high cheekbone, jaw jutting picture of a white male model -- the reigning standard for attractiveness and sexuality according to our pop culture world.

The negative stereotype haunts every Asian male who wants to break the mold and be more than the businessman, the doctor or lawyer, the computer or math wizard, the technical nerd, or the Asian men who gets passed over for promotion because he is not "management material." 

There is nothing wrong with being doctors, lawyers and computer nerds, etc. They are all respectable professions, but there are artists, poets, actors, comedians, dancers, athletes, politicians and pop singers, too. A little balance when describing us would be nice.

In the meantime, I'll be rooting for  Nishikori ... and Steven Yuen (Glenn in the Walking Dead); and Daniel Dae Kim of "Hawaii 5-0;"and Jeremy Lin (even though he plays for the Lakers); and the host of players of Asian descent making an impact in Major League Baseball; and Prince, Bruno Mars, Apl.de.ap and Enrigue Yglesias. All of them - because in their own specialized field and with the brilliant spotlight where they have excelled - chip away at the pervasive, negative, weak stereotype of Asian men.

Tennis, anyone?

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UPDATE: Cilic wins in three sets, 6-3, 6-3, 6-3. Ironically, Nishikori will still probably get more money out of this match than Cilic due to the promotional contracts he has in Japan where he is viewed as a hero. Nishikori had the crowd with him as they chanted "Ni-shi-ko-ri!" but that wasn't enough to overcome Cilic who was playing the best tennis of his life. Ace after ace and perfect placement of his backhand and forehand smashes proved to be too much for our guy. Still ... (sigh!)