(c) Getty Images. "Girl, Linterrupted" by Kai Ma. Pairing by Bao Phi.
Jeremy Lin has not just been making waves, he is a tsunami. Scoring 109 points in his first 4 starts as point guard for the Knicks (more than any NBA player since 1976), putting in the tie-breaking 3 pointer in the last minutes against the Raptors (on Va-Lin-tine's Day!), and dominating my
Facebook feed—we've all caught Lin-sanity. He is the first Chinese American, the first Taiwanese American, in the NBA. (Rex Walters, who played for Kansas in the Final Four, was the first Japanese American in the NBA, playing for Philadelphia and Miami in 7 NBA seasons. Raymond Townsend, Filipino American, played 3 seasons in the late '70s. Wat Misaka was the first Japanese American - the first non-White person ever - in any professional basketball league, also for the Knicks, in 1947, well before the merger with the NBA.) The Asian American community is going crazy with Lin-fluenza—and they're not the only ones. Even
Spike Lee got in on the action, with a now-viral poetry slam of puns on Jeremy Lin's name: "Jeremy 'leaving ankles broke'-Lin... Jeremy 'I moved so fast, I must be on Rita'-Lin... (and the best) ... Jeremy 'stop Asian profi'-Lin!" Linsanity is lintagious.
For Asian Americans who are often stereotyped as nerdy, socially-inept bookworms, for Asian American men who are usually emasculated by mainstream media—Jeremy Lin is a Godsend. Yes, he's smart (he went to Harvard). He's also a team leader, a master on the court who has changed the whole character of the Knicks—saving their season and perhaps the head coach's job (according to journalist Jeff Yang and others.) He's also just an amazing hoopster, earning every point with athletic skill. Not something that Asian Americans are recognized for. (Despite the triumph of Tiger Woods—whom I still count as Asian American, since his mother is Thai American—and Yao Ming—who was a similar hero to Asians worldwide, but he is Chinese, not Chinese American. And let's not forget Kristi Yamaguchi and other legends. But basketball is the most American of American sports, and thus has a different aura.) It is interesting to note that Lin is often described as a "smart" player—not inaccurate, but perhaps also proof of the inescapability of pervasive stereotyping.
Linfluenza is contagious on Facebook and around TV sets across the country. Kai Ma, former editor of KoreAm Magazine and current Managing Editor at the Asian American Writer's Workshop, proclaimed herself "Girl, Lin-terrupted." Kai, Kai, Kai. I feel your pain. I, too, am afflicted with BorderLin Personality Disorder. Chinese American Christians are especially enthused by their brother-in-the-faith. "Forgive us Father, for we have Linned." And women and men alike are proud to "Raise the Red Lin-tern". Not a single one of us seems ambivalin.
Lin has an amazing story—he tragically had to attend Harvard because no school would offer him an athletic scholarship. He played hoops for four years, and went undrafted before being given a shot by two NBA teams—which both waived him after a short time. He was a bench-warmer for the Knicks until a starter got injured, giving him the green-light. (I actually typed linght at first!) And now we thrill at his courtside antics (faking reading a book, or taking off glasses), and his shots that always seem to sink into pure net. It's hoopsteria and hoopstory in the making. I don't think it's a fluke—I think Lin is genuine.
One of my Facebook friends said she got teary-eyed with the same emotion she felt the night of Obama's victory in November, 2008. That's exactly IT. The fruition of buoyant hope, a representation of our best self on the world stage, the feeling of victory as the underdog overcomes long odds to become a champion and hero. All of history's struggles seemed vanquished in Obama's triumph. The African American community, all minorities, and indeed, a majority of Americans previously disenfranchised felt included by the cosmic eye. We were seen, heralded, victorious. In just the same way, Asian Americans, recalling a long history of racism and being shut out of the mainstream, feel vindicated, finally getting some positive attention. It is a moment of pure love, and a beacon of hope in these difficult times. It is a tale of how hard work, persistence, positive attitudes, good sportsmanship and team effort can pay off. It's Lincredible. And fun.
And now for some hyperbolic Linflammation.
Jeremy Lin is the new Obama. He may even be better than Obama. One father wrote his young daughter in a letter circulining on Facebook that one day, then-President Jeremy Lin would end global warming and abolish nuclear weapons. Sure—seems like a slam dunk! Not only is he post-racial and postpartisan—he may be post-Human. He gives me the feeling that maybe in these horrible times, we just might pull it off. He makes me think, "Yeah, we got this one." We will make it. We're in it to Lin it. Just in the Knick(s) of time.
It's not impossible. It's Lin-possible.
I gotta fee-Lin'.
© 2012 Ravi Chandra, M.D. All rights reserved. I thank the PBS Newshour for their reporting on Jeremy Lin, which I used extensively. For more on Chinese Americans and basketball over the last century, see Kathleen Yep's Outside the Paint: When Basketball Ruled the Chinese Playground. Thanks to Bao Phi, Oiyan Poon and Tony Nguyen for filling me in on basketball history. The image is © Getty Images, with captioning by Bao Phi from a quote by Kai Ma. Thanks to my Psychology Today editors for allowing this hyperbolic linflammation. I was linspired.
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