So which is it? Has Jeremy Lin joined a team that will help him excel on and off the court? Or has he become part of a wacky and possibly ill-advised experiment?
"I love the New York fans to death. That’s the biggest reason why I wanted to return to New York. The way they embraced me, the way they supported us this past season, was better than anything I’ve ever seen or experienced. I’ll go to my grave saying that. What New York did for me was unbelievable. I wanted to play in front of those fans for the rest of my career."
— Jeremy Lin sends his regrets
How I felt about Sunday’s game, in one photo.
Yes, but the Celtics taught the Knicks (and Jeremy Lin) a specific lesson that may come in handy
(via rubenfeld)
Lin is one of the 5 percent of the American population that identifies itself as having Asian ancestry; he is from from here and so he is disposed to the American way of things while remaining a part of an overlooked minority. And that, perhaps, is the signature sentiment of the Jeremy Lin phenomenon that’s drawn people in, particularly Asian Americans. We’re all too used to the feeling we’ve somehow been passed over.
So of everyone who claims him, it is perhaps the Asian Americans, and more particularly Young Asian American Christians of Certain Education, who claim him hardest. As the New York Times’ Michael Luo wrote, “It boils down to a welter of emotions from finally having someone I can relate to enter the public consciousness.”
The connection Luo describes is real and it’s one I feel too, but I also can’t help but feel it’s a reaction to the reaction as much as anything else. We Asian Americans are pointing to the TV screens and the Twitter streams and saying, “See, see, as long as you see what I know, then we’ve won.” Meanwhile, really, I know that Jeremy Lin is as distinct from me as anyone else on the court.
