'Just shocking': NBA stunned after veteran's 'disgusting' racism allegation
NBA veteran Jeremy Lin has sent shockwaves through the basketball world after he alleged he was called 'coronavirus' during a game in the past year.
Lin, a Taiwanese-American currently playing the G-League, shocked the NBA world after he used his platform to speak out against a recent spike in Asian-American hate crimes.
WOW: NBA player hit with huge ban for threatening pregnant lady
KING'S FURY: LeBron James rages over NBA All-Star 'disrespect'
"Fighting ignorance with ignorance will get us nowhere," he wrote on Twitter.
"Sharing our own pain by painting another group of people with stereotypes is NOT the way."
Lin, currently playing for Golden State Warriors' affiliate team Santa Cruz, encouraged those who want to combat this type of racism to reach out to Asian people in their communities and offer them a helping hand.
"Instead, if you want to truly help, look for the Asian kid who has no one to speak up for him when he's bullied," he added.
"Look for the Asian American groups that are experiencing poverty but getting overlooked. Support the Asian American movie or TV show that gives real opportunity to tell different stories.
"Look for the Asian people that are scared to walk around in their neighbourhood and ask how you can help them."
Lin added he wouldn't be "naming or shaming" the person that did it because he claimed it wouldn't help the situation.
NBA opens investigation into racism incident
Following Lin's claim, the NBA has reportedly opened an investigation into the alleged racism incident.
The NBA community also took to social media to send support to the much-loved veteran.
Someone called Jeremy Lin “coronavirus” on the court. That person is racist garbage, I hope they are outed. pic.twitter.com/69aUbfcLUi
— Jamie 😷’Grady (@JamieOGrady) February 26, 2021
The racism against Jeremy Lin is actually disgusting man. It’s not funny, it’s not humorous, it’s not witty, it’s embarrassing frankly. After being minorities your entire life and seeing how people mistreated you and how that felt, you thought it was ok to do the same to Lin?
— Pascal Truther (@premekee) February 26, 2021
Read these words from @JLin7. We’re listening, Jeremy. We’ve got to keep shining a light to make sure everyone else does too. https://t.co/dehQALMN4H
— Andy Kim (@AndyKimNJ) February 27, 2021
The G-League is supposed to be about guys finding their way to the NBA or finding their way back to the NBA. I root for G-League guys to make it.
Whoever called Jeremy Lin "coronavirus" doesn't deserve that shot. That's not a "I made a mistake" situation. That's hatred.— Keith Smith (@KeithSmithNBA) February 27, 2021
Golden State Warriors coach Steph Kerr, who was an outspoken critic of former US President Donald Trump, came out in strong support for Lin after the shocking claim.
“It’s just so ridiculous and obviously spawned by many people, including our former president, as it relates to the coronavirus originating in China. It’s just shocking,” Kerr said after learning of Lin's statement.
“I can’t wrap my head around any of it, but I can’t wrap my head around racism in general. We’re all just flesh and blood. We’re all just people. As Pop once said to me, we’re all accidents of birth. We’re born. We come out the way we are. We don’t have a say in it.”
“What we do have a say in is how we treat people. It’s shocking to me that we can treat each other so poorly based on the colour of skin or whatever it is. So I applaud Jeremy for speaking up.”
Lin is best known for his point scoring run, when he was playing for the New York Knicks, which the NBA world dubbed 'Linsanity'.
with Liz Roscher - Yahoo Sport US
Click here to sign up to our newsletter for all the latest and breaking stories from Australia and around the world.
