Jeremy Lin (Photo : Reuters)
Los Angeles Lakers point guard Jeremy Lin has endured a lot of criticisms throughout his polarizing NBA career, but he admitted none of these that blatantly hurt him more than being labeled soft, which he believed stemmed from his racial heritage as an Asian-American player.
In the midst of another up-and-down year, the 26-year old sat down with ESPN the Magazine writer Pablo S. Torre and talked about almost everything that shaped up his four-year NBA career, including the frenzy that was 'Linsanity' and his intriguing relationship with Lakers star Kobe Bryant and head coach Byron Scott.
However, the former Harvard standout has somehow used the interview to show his take on being tagged soft and weak, an issue that has been brought up to the forefront several times this season with the Lakers.
"There's this whole thing where it's OK to make fun of certain guys more than it is other guys," Lin told Torre via NBC Sports. "And Asians are very easy to make fun of. We're the model minority. So everyone can joke about Asians: They're nice people, respectful people; they won't do anything."
The 26-year old Lin started the first 20 games for the Lakers, before he was relegated to the bench by Byron Scott over issues of inconsistency and soft approach on the defensive end. Scott, who used to be a scrappy veteran with old-school mentality, even preferred journey Ronnie Price over Lin because of the former's sheer toughness alone.
Then again, Lin reiterated that the perception of him being weak is more of a product of Asian-American stereotypes rather than his play on the court.
"People look at me, and they've always jumped to conclusions," Lin said. "They don't see toughness."People just aren't used to seeing Asians do certain things, so it creates a very polarizing effect."
Lin, who used his strong post-All-Star break to regain his starting job with 10 games left in the season, is playing in the final year of the three-year, $25 million contract he signed with the Rockets three seasons ago. He will become an unrestricted free-agent this summer.
