NBA’s Lin happy to smash stereotypes

NEW YORK – New York Knicks sensation Jeremy Lin is trying not to get caught up in the buzz generated by his explosion onto the NBA scene but the Taiwanese-American point guard is glad to be helping break down stereotypes.

Friday, February 17, 2012
Jeremy Lin of the New York Knicks looks on against the Sacramento Kings. Net photo.

NEW YORK – New York Knicks sensation Jeremy Lin is trying not to get caught up in the buzz generated by his explosion onto the NBA scene but the Taiwanese-American point guard is glad to be helping break down stereotypes.The league’s only Taiwanese-American player was neither recruited by a major college basketball power nor drafted by any NBA team and after playing only 29 games in the league last season, was cut by two clubs before being signed by the Knicks.After using his pinpoint passing to extend the Knicks’ winning streak to seven with a 100-85 victory over the Sacramento Kings on Wednesday, Lin said he was happy to show that Asian-Americans could thrive in the NBA as could players from elite academic institutions such as his alma mater Harvard."There are definitely stereotypes, obviously,” Lin said about preconceived notions about Asian-Americans being able to compete at the NBA level."There’s a lot of them. The more we can do to break those down by the day, the better we’ll become. Hopefully in the near future we’ll see a lot more Asians and Asian-Americans playing basketball in the NBA.”California-born Lin said he was looking forward to returning to the homeland of his parents after the NBA season to host a basketball camp.