The NBA’s G-League Development League has launched an investigation after Jeremy Lin said he was being called ‘coronavirus’ in court.
Lin, who plays for the Golden State Warriors’ G-League subsidiary, the Santa Cruz Warriors, shared in a candid social media report that he experienced an act of racism during a game without saying when or where it happened.
A league spokesman confirmed to the New York Times that an investigation had been opened.
Golden State coach Steve Kerr said he would support Lin and expressed the discriminatory actions that Lin caused over the racism directed at Asian Americans.
The first American-born player of Chinese or Taiwanese descent in the NBA, Lin and she the Warriors, play in the neutral G League bubble spot in Lake Buena Vista, Florida.
“Being an Asian American does not mean that we do not experience poverty and racism. “Being a 9-year-old NBA veteran does not protect me from being called ‘coronavirus’ in court,” Lin wrote. “Being a man of faith does not mean that I do not fight for justice, for myself and for others. So here we are again and share how we feel. Is anyone listening? ”
Kerr was not sure how he would proceed before gathering more information, but promised to support Lin. The 32-year-old Lin played 29 games for the Warriors in 2010-11 as a rookie, then went to the New York Knicks and gained the popularity that earned him the nickname “Linsanity”. Lin, an American from Taiwan, was born in the city of Torrance in Southern California, but grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area.
Really powerful. “I applaud Jeremy for his words and confirm his sentiments regarding the racism against the Asian-American community,” Kerr said before presenting Golden State Charlotte at Chase Center. ‘It is just as ridiculous and apparently produced by many people, including our former president, when it comes to the coronavirus that originated in China. This is just shocking. I can not turn my head about it, but I can not turn my head about racism in general.
“We are all just flesh and blood. We are all just humans. As (Gregg) Pop (Popovich) once said to me: ‘We are all accidents at birth. Was born. We come out as we are. We have no say in that. What we do say is how we treat people. ‘It’s shocking to me that we can treat each other so badly based on skin color or whatever it is. I applaud Jeremy for saying that. ‘
Lin, who pledged up to $ 1 million in coronavirus assistance last year, said there was a generational shift in Asian Americans in a post on his Facebook page:
‘Something is changing in this generation of Asian Americans. We are tired of being told that we do not experience racism, we are tired of saying we should keep our heads down and not cause problems. We are tired of Asian American 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. We are tired of the stereotypes in Hollywood that affect our psyche and limit who we think we can be. We are tired of being invisible, of mistaking our colleague or saying that our struggle is not so real.
‘I want better for my older men who worked so hard and sacrificed so much to make a living for themselves here. I want better for my niece and future children. I want better for the next generation of Asian American athletes than to have to work so hard to be ‘misleading’. ‘
Lin followed that post with another on Saturday, saying he did not intend to make public the player who used the term.
“I know it will disappoint some of you, but I do not name or shame anyone,” Lin said. tweeted. ‘What good is a web site if it simply “blends in” with everything else out there? It does not make my community safer or solve our long-term problems with racism. ”
In addition to his games with the Warriors and Knicks, Lin also played for the Houston Rockets, Los Angeles Lakers, Charlotte Hornets, Brooklyn Nets and Atlanta Hawks and in 2019 became the first Asian-American to win an NBA championship. the Toronto Raptors.