Jeremy Lin, ‘Reppin’ Asians With Everything I Have,’ Is Bigger Than an N.B.A. Title

Can you imagine an equally pedestrian player with such ink devoted to him? Make the most of it Mr. Lin. Right place, right time.

I'm happy that Jeremy was able to stay positive and proud of his championship even when so many lemmings were trying to bring him down. Just because he barely played in the playoffs doesn't mean he didn't contribute in practice. He also played in the final 4 months of the regular season to help Lowry and VanVleet rest. Lin absolutely earned his ring.

I was a bench player although on scholarship for a prominent D-1 basketball team 50 years ago. Though my stats were low that team and university still invites me back for anniversary events and other recognition where the statistics don’t mean a thing. What matters is that I was a part of the team. While college sport today has a great deal of questionable baggage, the fact remains that team sports can help young people forge relationships and character components that can last until they are, like me, old people. Jeremy Lin’s Raptors numbers are irrelevant—he deserves recognition on so many levels.

Lin is Han Chinese. Do Japanese, Filipino, Indian, Thai, Malay people etc really identify as Asian? I am sincerely curious.

Jeremy Lin was offered no athletic scholarships out of high school, was called racial slurs by opponents and fans all throughout college, and went undrafted (Darryl Morey admitted that the Rockets didn't draft Lin because he was Asian). Lin fully deserves this championship and he has every right to rep Asians after all he's been through.

God bless Jeremy Lin

Go Jeremy! You kept grinding and took the high road.

I love Lin but he obviously had little to nothing to do with the Raptors' title. Van Vleet is the man and all Lin did was sub a few games. Still a ring!

NBA Titles: Jeremy Lin - 1 Carmelo Anthony - 0 Congratulations Jeremy!

Lin-Sanity was the brightest moment for the Knicks since Van Gundy and Ewing went to the finals. It was of course the dullest moment for the Knicks to not try to do it again the next season. Toast the Raptors for winning the title with a diverse team.

Anyone who says that Mr. Lin "did nothing" to earn his championship clearly hasn't played team sports before. There is a tremendous amount of practice and preparation before the actual game, and in the NBA playoffs in particular, all players on a roster are in the gym helping the starters refine their plays by studying game film of their opponents and emulating them during scrimmages. Mr. Lin worked hard for his championship, and he deserves it.

While Lin didn’t play much in the Playoffs ... he was much needed as replacement to Kyle Lowry’s point guard duties due to injury ... his work helped the Raptors to a Second Place finish ... and NOW World Champions ... Wow congratulations to Lin ... YOU deserve it ...

Lin-sanity was the highlight of the Knicks play since the missed dunk. And that still stands. I never knew Lin is Asian. I only knew he was a Knick. I'm glad to find out about Lin's background.

Good stuff, Alex. Get ready to start writing about Rui Nachimura from Gonzaga, who will be drafted into the NBA tomorrow.

Thank you NYTimes and Alex Wong for bringing Jeremy Lin "back to life"!...if not for this uplifting story, i would not have known that Jeremy Lin was with the Toronto Raptors!..ever since he was let go, traded by the NY Knicks i was hoping that Jeremy Lin would play a prominent role in some team's successful turn-a-round!...there will always be a place for Jeremy Lin somewhere in the NBA, he plays basketball the way the game was originally designed, and when he re-vitalized the NY Knicks with his unselfish, energizing, electrifying, intelligent, and team player style NYC basketball fans, especially long deprived Knick fans, were so "Linsanitized" that there was an empty, sad feeling like being dumped by a lover when he was let go!..Why?...old time NY Knick fans like me from the 1950-70's (especially the late 60's, early 70's!) long for the time of real team style players, Jeremy Lin was like a miracle injecting that most uplifting style of play!...and then gone like a powerful wind that stirred up energy with also a calming effect, disappearing yet still around...when Jeremy Lin's playing days are over a smart team would be doing itself, its players, and fans a big service by making him a coach, showing the young players how basketball is to be played!...Jeremy Lin lifted up not just NY Knick fans, but New York City, whether a basketball fan or not!...what an inspiration Jeremy Lin is, what we as human beings NEED!...Gratefully, [email protected]

Although he is not Japanese-American but simply Japanese, I look forward with great anticipation to what Rui Hachimura will bring to the NBA. He too will change the face of professional basketball. As for Jeremy Lin, a championship is won through practice, teamwork and so many things in addition to time in the games. Enjoy his moment with him!

Nice article. Thanks for writing. Linsanity next to the first Knicks championship was the most exciting thing I've ever seen in the NBA. I can appreciate ethnic pride in Lin. Of course. Why not? He remains my favorite current player. Jeremy, if you are reading stop by to shoot some hoops.

Why is it always about our ethnicity? Shouldn't we respect and admire people for what they do, not because they share our ethnicity? As long as we focus on race and ethnicity, we will always be a divided society.

Lol. Seriously, Mr. Wong? You write: "Throughout my career, I’ve always felt that accomplishing the same things as my peers resulted in my getting only half the credit and recognition, partially because of who I am." Wow. Half the credit and recognition? How did/do you quantify that? And, if you can actually calculate such nebulosity, you won't be a freelance journalist for long!

Another reason baseball is great!

Tonight Rui Hachimura becomes the best Asian player in the NBA. Sorry Jeremy. He is a far better player.

And, he is a Christian. His faith guides his life and makes him confident whether he is playing well or not. I love that about him. Living out what you believe to the best of your ability knowing God is with you all the time.

Fabulous! As American as Apple Pie! Having said that I realize Lin is not the best player in the NBA or even on the Raptors so it is fitting and proper that these facts be brought out. However, it doesn't matter to Asian Americans or for that matter any American because he is in the NBA and is an elite basketball player and the first NBA champion team with an Asian. As mentioned above, as American as apple pie. It's what makes us stronger as a nation.

Growing up, the only Asian American television star of note I found semi-relatable was George Takei. Slim-pickings in the days of “Long Duk Dong” and before, and Takei was someone from decades earlier! Even now Asian Americans are severely underrepresented in US media, so any bit of recognition like this is welcome indeed.

Im sorry but I cannot help but see irony in this celebration of equality. While Jeremy Lin has indeed broken a racial barrier and this is to be lauded, Raptors president Masai Ujiri was not only racially profiled by the Alameda County Sheriff's Department as he made his way onto the court in Oakland's Oracle Arena, he continues to endure a mainstream media - like the NYT - unwilling to critically challenge the inherent racism of that law enforcement agency.

I wanted to qualify Lin’s achievement, he is the first Asian-AMERICAN to win an NBA Championship but other Asians (Chinese nationals) have done it. Mengke Bateer for the Spurs in 2003 and Sun Yu with the 2009 Lakers.

This article aims too low. Asian Americans are doing bigger and better things than throwing a ball around.

His is most famous for showing up at the stadium for the games and was turned away by the guards because they did not think he is a player! He gets reminded everyday that Asians can not play NBA....

"Lin’s story has always been about more than his playing time or his performance on the court. It has been about Asian representation and visibility, rarely recognized or seen in organized basketball, especially at the N.B.A. level." Are Asians being discriminated against in the NBA? Is it racism that black men are overrepresented in the NBA? Hop off the diversity train for a minute and think.

Is Taiwanese a Chinese? Is a Taiwan a separate nation in Asia? The first time I visited Taiwan was in Feb., 1942 shortly after Hong Kong was occupied by Japan. The people in Taiwan at that time told us that they are Japanese. I went back to Taipei again in April, 1949 and they told me that they are Chinese. What is the real story. Everyone now is proud to be a Taiwanese, why? Because mainland China is under the communist rule? So Jeremy Lin is a Taiwanese, not a Canadian? Because he has an Asian face? No body told me that Tiger Woods is an African.

Great, well written article! Proud of Jeremy Lin and how he reps for the culture.

Funny, the last time I saw Lin was at Oakland Coliseum, suited up as a Warrior and warming up before a game. I watched the game but, too bad, he didn't play.

Lin was not much of a contributor to the championship. Sat on the bench most of the time.

Jeremy Lin has been a fine NBA player for many years. And he was a significant contributor to the Raptors regular season success. Whoever he plays for next season can be assured that Lin will give a maximum effort combined with his traditional sportsmanship. He is a winner. A fine addition to an NBA team.

Im Asian American. It’s nice to see famed Asian Americans athletes given how few there are (that’s not necessarily a bad thing - Asian Americans know its hard to make money as an athlete) But Lin may be exception here. I didn’t watch all of the NBA finals but I watched a few games. I still didn’t know he played for the Raptors. If anything, this kind of makes Asian Americans look bad. The takeaway here is that even the current best Asian American basketball player is not good enough to play more than 17 min.

The most exciting thing that happened to the Knicks in 20 to 30 years, and what did the Knicks do? They won 7 or 8 games in a row, including against top teams, like LA and Dallas during that streak. So how did the Knicks reward him? They let him resign with another team, and resumed their losing ways. I just hope it does not take another 20 years for the Knicks to have any kind of relevance in the NBA. Lin deserves more playing time next season.

I was at an early Linsanity game and heard the racist crowd cheering (?) "Jeremy Rin". We didn't deserve him. Congrats to Lin and the Raptors (and, what the heck, Canada) on the championship.

Jeremy was an absolute star at Palo Alto High School (Paly) but yet he couldn't get a look at major basketball programs. Even after Harvard -- where he again excelled at basketball -- he wasn't recognized. It's been awesome to follow his career in the NBA.

When Linsanity first happened, he was quoted in newspaper that it was all about glorifying God. I keep that and other quotes in my Bible for encouragement. Best wishes to him and his team

The NY Knicks got rid of Lin despite his popularity and effectiveness. That is why I am so glad that he won an NBA title and has a more complete career.

The pride of Palo Alto. Good for him!

To me (not an Asian-American), having someone who played 17 minutes in the playoffs be on the championship team doesn't seem terribly noteworthy. But one can't deny the genuine pride that this essayist feels -- clearly this meant something to Asian Americans (I imagine also to Asian Canadians), and I think it's great. I hope their prediction about Lin's accomplishment inspiring more Asian American involvement in the sport comes true.

I thought that the Linsanity era was great. However, I watched the NBA finals and, until I read this article, I had no idea that Lin was on the Raptors. It's great that there's an Asian player in the NBA but to make a big deal of him being on the winning team, when he played one minute in the finals, is a joke.

by the logic i see here, bench riders, support personnel, and coaches have limited value since they don't directly contribute to the score on the board. am i missing something about teams and how they work?

I was a bench warmer for my high school's soccer team that came in second in the PSAL championship in NYC years ago. I too was awarded a silver medal for being a team member. For years after I never felt I had earned it. I never displayed it or showed it to anyone, eventually it was lost and didn't miss it. Jeremy Lin represents more than the sport of basketball and is a role model for all, but a true NBA champion, not quite.

The article said he is of “Taiwanese descent.” Since the whole point of the article is about race and ethnicity, does that mean he is different from Yao Ming? Do mainland Chinese view Lin differently than Yao? I know the history of Taiwan very well but I’m not familiar with Taiwanese descent differing from Chinese descent. Knowing there are many different ethnicities in China, are Taiwanese treated differently in the US than immigrants from mainland China?

As most basketball fans know, Lin shot to fame as brief star on the Knicks. However, as the Knicks are clearly infamous for they found a way to squander Lin's talent, and focus almost entirely on Carmelo Anthony when he returned from injury - that paid off didn't it? And although it's always hard to know exactly what happened afterwards, but Lin never seemed to manage to get his momentum back. He has now been reduced to barely a secondary player on the Raptors. Also I think it's fair to note, while Lin might be one of the first prominent Asian American players, Yao Ming had a far greater basketball impact than Lin.

Playing basketball requires a level of self-confidence that is more than any other sports. You need that swagger mentality to excel at the top level. This aspect has been especially difficult for someone like Jeremy Lin, as I can imagine. Once you get to the point where you need to prove yourself and to earn your playing time, you become cautious and it is difficult to play at the top level. It's great to see Jeremy Lin starts to affirm more his Asian heritage and identity, as you should. He should also just go to the court to have fun, forgetting other things. Still look forward to see some more great basketball from him.

My son is proudly wearing his Jeremy Lin jersey from his brief time with the Atlanta Hawks. We were lucky to get to see him play here before he was traded. He is a role model for my boys in every way.

This article lost me at “One of the best basketball players in the world.” As an Asian-American, I am just not comfortable with celebrating someone who had as little an impact in the playoffs as (to pick a random Raptors player) Jodie Meeks, just because he happens to “look like me” and Jodie Meeks doesn’t. It strikes me as tokenism and frankly I find it a bit demeaning. On the other hand, I love the story of Pascal Siakam, arguably the second best player on the team—trained as a Catholic Priest in the Cameroon, decided he wanted to play basketball, lost his father, struggled to get noticed in the U.S. and finally got his big break with the Raptors. Now he’s one of the up-and-coming stars in the NBA. To me, that is the inspirational story from the Raptors, despite the fact that Pascal is of a different ethnicity, culture, and nationality from me. Maybe we can someday learn to celebrate and empathize with individuals who don’t come from the same ethnic and cultural background as ourselves?

Jeremy Lin is a class act - he meant so much to the NY Knicks fans when he played his heart out for the team and the fans. I am so happy for him, and he is so much more than those 27 minutes. Congrats!!

"Lin played just 27 minutes in the playoffs. Yes, only one of those minutes was in the finals" If Lin's playing time and/or contributions came anywhere close to what his pre-injuries contributions were, then we can say that he helped win a champinship. The reality is that Lin did not "win" a championship. Let's end the wishful thinking. It's a nice accomplishment, period, to be on the roster of any professional team, let alone a championship team. At the same time, Lin's participation in the present context is somewhat tragic. We can only imagine what might have been possible had he remained healthy and had an uninterrupted career.