Jeremy Lin: The Basement Tapes

My recent post on NBA insta-celebrity Jeremy Lin — “Jeremy Lin and the Soft Bigotry of Low Expectations” — garnered a fair amount of controversy.  To supply some backstory: shortly after Jeremy’s outstanding off-the-bench performance against the New Jersey Nets, a friend forwarded the video highlights to me with a note that some of her Asian-American male friends were deeply moved at the sight of someone “like them” succeeding on the highest stage against the mega-athletes of the NBA.  I watched the video and sent a note back: “Love the video.  Wish the commentators weren’t talking about him like he’s some kind of kid.”  My friend responded that she felt the same way — and that many of her Asian-American friends also felt the commentators were (unintentionally) demeaning.