Before he became the famous Asian-American professional basketball player that he is now, it wasn't all good times for Jeremy Lin. He faced a lot of racist remarks growing up, and the worst ones were during his college days.
The Brooklyn Nets point guard recently made an appearance on the “Outside Shot with Randy Foye“ podcast, where he shared the worst comments made against him when he was still playing for Harvard. He also revealed, via ESPN's Ohm Youngmisuk, that there was a coach from an opposing team who also made a racist remark directed at him.
“Lin told Foye that one fan at Georgetown shouted negative Asian stereotypes at him, such as “chicken fried rice” and “beef lo mein” and “beef and broccoli” throughout the entire game. And when Harvard visited Yale one time, Lin said fans heckled his appearance, specifically his eyes.”
“They were like, ‘Hey! Can you even see the scoreboard with those eyes?'”
“In Vermont — I remember, because I had my hands up while the Vermont player was shooting free throws — their coach was like, ‘Hey ref! You can't let that Oriental do that!' I was like, What is going on here? I have been called a c—k by players in front of the refs; the refs heard it, because they were yelling it, [like,] ‘Yeah, get that out, c—k!' And the ref heard it, looked at both of us and didn't do anything.”
Even in the NBA, Lin said he still hears some fans come up with offensive remarks, but he is handling it like a true professional. He then added that they are not as worse as the ones said to him before.
“To this day in the NBA, there are still some times where there are still some fans that will say smaller stuff, and that is not a big deal. But that motivates me in a different way.”
What Lin shared in the podcast is truly an eye-opener, as there are certainly others who may have been on the receiving end of more rude comments. The 6-foot-3 point guard hopes his story could serve as inspiration and not allow other people to verbally abuse someone because of his race. With how he's been playing in the NBA, he is also doing his best to break the mold and prove to everyone that Asian-Americans can also excel in sports, including basketball.
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