SO EVERYONE LOVES the NBA’s newest superstar, right?
Wrong.
The New York Knicks point guard, Jeremy Lin, has shot to fame in the past week having been thrust into the franchise’s starting line by a perfect storm.
Lin has helped turn the fortunes of the struggling Knicks, scoring 38 points last Friday when pitted against Kobe Bryant and the LA Lakers.
Unimpressed, Floyd Mayweather Jnr has taken it upon himself to ‘stand up’ for black american athletes by suggesting Lin, who is of Chinese descent, is no more than an average player who is overrated because of his ethnicity.
The boxer who is due to fight Miguel Cotto on 5 May before beginning a 90 day jail sentence on 1 June, went on to claim he was speaking on behalf of ‘other NBA players’ who, he says, “are programmed to be politically correct and will be penalized if they speak up.”
Mayweather, helpfully referring to himself in both the first and third person, cited a conversation on ESPN where the panel discuss whether race is a factor in Lin’s popularity.
On the show, panelist Beto Duran agreed that the rarity of Asian NBA players was a factor but also added:
“I don’t think it’s a novelty act, everybody’s saying ‘he’s Asian, that’s why he’s getting so much pub(licity)’.
“He’s getting pub because he’s in New York, he’s with the Knicks and because he’s ballin’ right now.”