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The Chinese-American basketball player on his ascent to stardom, and his criteria for the perfect girlfriend
Perhaps better known as J Lin or Super Lintendo, 24-year-old point guard Jeremy Lin has gone from an undrafted benchwarmer to a global inspiration when he trashed the stereotypes on Asian basketball players. Running the floor diligently last February for his former NBA team, the New York Knicks, the Linsanity craze was created virtually overnight in every corner of the globe. With every successful basket and assist he made, the number of aspiring players grew too, and Lin found himself suddenly being intensely monitored and analysed by experts and amateurs alike.
Congratulatory notes and bitter comments flooded the media, but fluke or not, Lin has kept a level head amidst all the fanfare, attributing his achievements to his Christian faith, family, supportive fans and everyday hard work. It all seemed to have paid off when he signed a lucrative USD25m, three-year contract this summer with Houston Rockets, Yao Ming’s former NBA team.
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As part of his Asia tour to get connected with fans and get involved with community work, the US-born athlete landed in Hong Kong last week to attend the ‘New World Springboard’ For Youth, a community programme to help under-resourced local youth. It gave supporters and journalists in Asia a rare opportunity to get up close and personal at the Q&A session, transcribed below.
You’ve become a global superstar with a very lucrative new contract, and you’re going to a new team. How much pressure are you feeling right now?
JL: I’m just trying to stay consistent. For me that means playing unto God and I think when I play for God, I tend to play better, so I’m trying to not put too much pressure on myself. I think I want to approach the game the same way that I had been.
Your new team in the coming season looks a little bit inexperienced in the playoffs. What is the Rockets’ outlook for the coming season and what’s your target?
JL: Like you said we’re going to be young, we’re going to be inexperienced. But the flip side of that is we’re going to be really fast, we’re going to be really athletic. We have a chance to build a new team, to build a new culture, to start from ground up. So, I think that’s where we’re focused on, and with our first goal of being to make the playoffs in this upcoming year.
The recent London Olympics cast a spotlight on how much pressure Chinese athletes face in aiming for gold medals and being number one. What is your opinion about this type of approach to sports?
JL: I think winning is very important in sports, but I don’t think it has to be the only measure for success. When I play sports, I am very competitive, I love to win, I want to win. But I also understand that there are other things that I have to do through sports, like treating my teammates the right way, building friendships and relationships, learning from coaches, getting better as a person. Different things that all are incorporated to sports, so when you look at the end result, you see the win and loss but there are also a lot of factors that I think are important.
What did you discover about yourself during the Linsanity craze that you didn’t know before?
JL: One thing I learnt about myself is how much I cherish my relaxation in private time. With everything that I care about, I think I have less privacy, and that was a tough adjustment at first. I also learnt that I’m only human and I had to learn to balance things: how much time and energy I have to spend focusing on basketball and the season, and then maintaining a healthy balance with the rest of my life. I never had to play every single night in the NBA, I never had to take care of my body and mind in that way, but I had to learn how to do that throughout the course of the season.
Do you identify yourself as a Chinese, Taiwanese or American?
JL: [Laughs] First and foremost, my identity is in Christ. And so that’s where I see my identity. In addition, I think, me as a person, if you look at my hitatler_stories, I have grandparents, great grandparents from China, my parents were born and raised in Taiwan, I was born and raised in America. So there’s a lot of history.
What are you requirements on picking girlfriends? Would you consider ladies from Hong Kong?
JL: That’s an interesting question. I think what I look for is very simple, I want to find a girl who loves God, who loves and serves other people. That’s basically it, no specifications in terms of where they’re from or anything like that.
What are some difficulties Asian players have to face or tackle to play in the NBA?
JL: There’s definitely going to be racial stereotypes and barriers that affect whatever people think about you. But, the beautiful thing about NBA is that you only need one person to fall in love with you game, and if you find that one person, maybe he gives you the chance – who knows what’s going to happen? There’s definitely an uphill climb right now in terms of the world’s perception of Asian American basketball players, but I think that’s slowly and gradually moving in the right direction.
Have you been surprised by some of the comments made by commentators, for example, and on Twitter, which express racist attitudes? And how do you feel about that discourse?
JL: I think it’s culturally a sensitive issue, or in terms of society, but to me it’s a very real issue. To be honest, I thought it was going to be worse. After what I went through in college, I thought it was going to be a lot worse so I guess I’ve underestimated it, which is a good thing.
The fact that you’re a Chinese-American has made your ascent really resonate with people here in the region. Can you describe how you feel about that, and does it give you added pressure for the coming season?
JL: My entire trip to Asia – every stop that I’ve made along the way, the reception – has been far beyond what I’ve imagined. Now that I’m here I can see first hand. I’m grateful that all these people support me and care about my career. I think the one thing I want to try to do is to inspire people and be an appropriate role model for kids. There are things that I want to share with the world, to my fans about myself, whether it’s my faith or encouraging people to think about underprivileged communities and ways they can serve other people who are less fortunate, promoting the game of basketball, whether it’s basketball camps, clinics or events. I think it’s given me a very unique platform, and I want to try to use it the right way.
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