NBA Offseason 2012 - Page 58

I don't even know how to respond to this terrible post. Sure, even though he had explosive games against Boston College and UConn his senior year and helped Harvard set multiple school records, it's still the Ivy League and there's a reason Harvard hasn't had an NBA player in nearly 60 years. But care to explain to me why he was offered not a single D1 scholarship offer after leading his team to an upset of perennial powerhouse Mater Dei en route to a California state title in 2006, earning first team All-State and CIF Division II player of the year honors? Why no team even thought about drafting him when he was consistently strong and showed flashes of greatness in college and was first-team All-Ivy, and a finalist for the Bob Cousy Award? After an entire college career and draft process passed by, he got lucky and had the Mavs pick him up for their summer league team where he outplayed John Wall, the top pick in that same draft, and finally got some attention. Obviously having one highlight-worthy game in summer league doesn't mean that you're NBA ready, but in a league that places inordinate emphasis on upside, why is it that a player that shows so much of it gets passed over time and time again and eventually has to be thankful to accept a minimum deal to be a mascot for his hometown team?

To say that race cuts in his favor every time is asinine when IVY LEAGUE college opponents taunted him every game calling him a chink and every analyst in sports media gives him those subtle jabs -- P2 and Melo are deceptive athletes because THEY LOOK FAT -- hidden among the praise. Of course he was a fan favorite in the bay area, that's where he grew up and won a state championship. OK, maybe he doesn't "deserve" a fat NBA contract even though he's shown he can potentially play at an all-star level; after all, he's only played significant minutes in 1/3 of a lockout season. But if race has nothing to do with his being repeatedly underrated and overlooked, why is it that he's almost exclusively compared to white point guards and he's touted as "deceptively athletic" as a 6'3" 200 lb point guard with a world-class first step? Sure, those ridiculous comparisons to all-time great point guards like Steve Nash and John Stockton should be both flattering to Lin and insulting to the HOF point guards, but aside from being sensationalist, they also didn't make sense when you look at their body types. If it was just meant as a compliment on his "high basketball IQ" and aptitude in pick and roll situations, why didn't he garner any comparisons to Chris Paul? You bring up him being cut twice as if it says anything about his performance in the league up to this point. Linsanity blew up the way it did because it seemingly came out of nowhere. But in the modern sports era, how is that even possible? At some point in practice he must've shown signs and should have been given minutes to nurture his emerging talent. Instead he got no burn in his two years in the league and only got his shot due to injuries to Bibby, Davis, and Douglas. If the cultural knife cuts in his favor, why is it that he was the fourth-string point guard in an NBA city with one one of the highest Asian-American populations?

You're right that he's getting paid now in large part because of his international marketing appeal. But why don't you tell me what's so ridiculous about an $8M/yr contract? That's on par with Rodney Stuckey, Dragic, Devin Harris, and George Hill, and certainly his on-court performance alone (if he's able to keep it up over an 82-game season) warrants that level of pay. The only issue with his contract is the poison pill back-loaded 3rd year, which is the only way that a team could pry him away from the Knicks (and really, there's still no good reason that the already horribly over-the-cap Knicks shouldn't have matched); plus, for a starter caliber point guard, he's underpaid in those first two years anyway and the large expiring the last year only makes him more of an asset. I'm having trouble thinking of another instance of current NBA players criticizing a fellow player (and in this case, it's two teammates doing it) for getting paid -- can you? I don't recall Rashard Lewis, Gilbert Arenas, or Joe Johnson catching any flak for the stupidity of their front offices. If it's strictly meant as commentary on the back-loaded poison pill contracts, why didn't anyone say anything about Omer Asik's signing?

At the end of the day, Lin's shown he can play. If you think his race helped him get to where he is now, you're crazy. He's finally found a place in the NBA in spite of his race because he got insanely lucky and blew up into a global phenomenon. Make no mistake about it, the odds were heavily stacked against him from the start and if you run it back, 99 out of 100 times he gets washed out of the league before he gets his shot. But sure, now that he's actually made it, it helps.

As an aside though, comparing Lin to Jackie Robinson is insulting. I get why people say that but while 2012 isn't quite "post-racial America," it's certainly not pre-Civil Rights Era America either.