The NBA G League said on Friday that it was investigating a report by Jeremy Lin, one of the best-known Asian American basketball players, that he had been called a “coronavirus” on the court.
Lin revealed the injury in a Facebook post on Thursday, in which he denounced the racism and discrimination faced by Asian Americans. It was an important example of the growing wave of fanaticism that many Asian Americans say they have endured since last year, when former President Donald J. Trump began to describe the coronavirus as the “China virus”.
“Being an Asian American doesn’t mean we don’t live in poverty and racism,” wrote Lin, who plays for the Golden State Warriors branch in the G League, the NBA’s development league. “Being a 9-year-old NBA veteran does not protect me from being called a ‘coronavirus’ on the court. Being a man of faith does not mean that I do not fight for justice, for myself and for others. “
A league spokesman confirmed that an investigation was opened, but declined to comment further. The investigation was first reported by The Athletic.
The investigation came amid an increase in attacks against Asian Americans, according to government records. The number of hate crimes with Asian-American victims reported to the New York Police Department increased to 28 in 2020, from just three in 2019. Activists and law enforcement officials said many other incidents were not classified as hate crimes or were not formally reported.
In August, a United Nations report found that racially motivated violence and other incidents against Asian Americans have reached “an alarming level” in the United States since the outbreak of the virus. The report said that more than 1,800 racist incidents against Asian Americans in the United States were reported over an eight-week period, from March 2020 to May 2020.
The incidents involved people who said they were spit on, blocked in public transport, discriminated against in the workplace, avoided, beaten, stabbed and insulted for being called coronavirus transmitters, the report said.
Lin, who is Taiwanese-American, spoke openly about the discrimination and questions he faced in professional basketball. He also proudly embraced his model status and inspiration for many Asian Americans.
A former Harvard basketball player, Lin became a sensation in the 2011-12 NBA season when, as a relative stranger on the bench, he took over as guard of the Knicks and tore the league apart, generating a wave of emotion that became known. like “Linsanity”. He scored more points in his first five games than any other player in nearly 40 years, reaching 38 against the Los Angeles Lakers.
In his Facebook post on Thursday, Lin, 32, pointed to a generation change among Asian Americans.
“We are tired of hearing that we do not experience racism, we are tired of hearing that we must keep our heads down and not create problems,” he wrote. “We are tired of seeing Asian American children growing up and being asked where they REALLY are from, of having our eyes mocked, of being objectified as exotic or of hearing that we are inherently unattractive.
“I want the best for the elderly, who worked so hard and sacrificed themselves to build a life here,” he added. “I want the best for my niece and nephew and future children.”
Shauntel Lowe contributed to this report.