The NBA G League said on Friday it was investigating a report by Jeremy Lin, one of the most famous Asian-American players in basketball, that he was called ‘coronavirus’.
Lin on Thursday revealed the failure in a Facebook post in which he denounced the racism and discrimination facing Asian Americans. It was a prominent example of the growing tide of triviality that many Asian Americans have endured since last year, when former President Donald J. Trump began describing the coronavirus as the ‘China virus’.
“Being an Asian American does not mean we are not experiencing poverty and racism,” wrote Lin, who plays for the Golden State Warriors subsidiary in the G League, the NBA’s development league. ‘Being a 9-year-old NBA veteran does not protect me from being called’ coronavirus’ in court. Being a man of faith does not mean that I do not fight for justice, for myself and for others. ‘
A league spokesman confirmed that an inquiry had been opened but declined to comment further. The investigation was first reported by The Athletics.
According to the government statements, the investigation took place amid an increase in attacks on Asian Americans. The number of hate crimes involving Asian-American victims reported to the New York Police Department rose to 28 in 2020, from just three in 2019. Activists and police officials said many other incidents were not classified as hate crimes or that they were not. not formally registered. .
In August, a United Nations report found that racially motivated violence and other incidents against Asian Americans had reached a “worrying level” in the United States since the outbreak of the virus. According to the report, more than 1,800 racist incidents against Asian Americans were reported in the United States over an eight-week period from March 2020 to May 2020.
The incident concerns people who said they were spit on, blocked from public transport, discriminated against in workplaces, that they avoided, beaten, stabbed and insulted because they were called the coronavirus transmission. .
Lin, who is Taiwanese-American, spoke openly about the discrimination and interrogation he encountered in professional basketball. He also proudly accepted his status as a role model and an inspiration to many Asian Americans.
Lin was a former Harvard basketball player and became an outcast in the 2011-12 NBA season when he took over as a family member unknown on the bench as a guard for the Knicks and tore through the league. known as ‘Linsanity’. He scored more points in his first five times than any other player in nearly 40 years, with a high of 38 against the Los Angeles Lakers.
Lin, 32, pointed to a generational shift among Asian Americans in his Facebook post on Thursday.
“We are tired of being told that we are not experiencing racism, we are tired of being told that we should hold on and not make trouble,” he wrote. “We are tired of Asian children growing up and being asked where they REALLY come from, that we mock our eyes, that they are objectified as exotic or that we are inherently unattractive.”
“I want better for my older men who worked so hard and sacrificed so much to make a living here for themselves,” he added. “I want better for my niece and future children.”
Shauntel Lowe contributed to this report.