Jeremy Lin Biography - Essay Example

At the end of the day, experts in the world of professional basketball say one thing – Lin is good but not that good to be a basketball sensation like Bryant or Jordan. I do not agree that he should be a symbol for Asian Americans. Putting up Jeremy Lin as the epitome of Asian Americans is telling the world athletes who are Asian Americans only succeed out of luck which as proven by history is not true. The sensationalizing of Lin has also made China put a claim on his ancestry when he is actually a mixture of Chinese and Taiwanese.

Thankfully Lin has not shown any kind of stressing out over his new status symbol which is fortunate because it is too soon to ruin his career like other people who had let their sudden fame get to their heads. Jeremy Lin was born in Palo Alto, Los Angeles to Taiwanese parents who had permanently moved to the United States from Taiwan in 1970. (Taylor) By American law, his nationality is American. His schooling came from American schools. With the guidance of their father, Gie-Ming who was self-taught in the sport, Lin and his brothers learned basketball at the local YMCA.

(O’Neil) What started as a way for Gie-Min to release the stress brought about by long hours of work became a way to teach his boys basketball at an early age and a three-nights-a-week routine for him and his boys. (O’Neil) Their mother was on hand to support the hobby but also to make sure that the kids did not lose sight of their academic requirements. Although Lin played the sport really well while in school, he was continuously taunted because of his ethnicity. Basketball was after all America’s beloved sport.

Naturally, Americans typical image of a basketball player would be someone like Larry Bird or Michael Jordan - tall and American. Asian Americans were not very common in the scene. When 7-foot tall Chinese national Yao Ming first appeared in the NBA in 2002, a similar hype surrounded him because people were still skeptical about Asian Americans excelling in the sport. Of course, Yao Ming and Jeremy Lin are proving them wrong. It is therefore no surprise that Jeremy Lin’s countrymen, as with Yao Ming, would be so proud of him that they would make him a representation of the Asian American community.

Without all the media announcing it, Jeremy Lin is already an inspiration to many Asian Americans. Like how Lin idolized the basketball greats introduced to him by his father, today’s younger generation is also looking up to the promising basketball player. Especially in China where the practice of religion is limited, Lin, who has openly referred to his faith in God many times, has given hope to the Chinese community. For someone as young as Lin, being the image for Asian Americans would be a daunting task that could be detrimental to his career.

As with all popular public figures, the young athlete would be in the spotlight at all times. (Zimmerbucher) He would need to ensure that whatever he does or says would always please his audience so as not to lose their support. For athletes, performance and mass media are very important aspects of the job. These can play a role in the negotiation of their contracts with their teams and endorsements. Even though this would prove to be beneficial to Lin monetary-speaking, the young man only wants to enjoy the game at this stage in his career.

(O’Neil) He also needs to continue improving his skills and he cannot do this with everyone in