A Bay Area kid is living his dream and he'll be doing it with your Golden State Warriors.
A week ago, this blog featured an article about Omar Samhan, who is going to play professional basketball in Europe this upcoming season, and Jeremy Lin, the 6-foot-3 Bay Area native who played high school ball in Pal Alto. This afternoon, Lin became the newest member of the Golden State Warriors.
And in case you couldn't tell from the picture. Lin is Asian American.
Does that mean that you will one day be in the NBA? Probably not. But at least he gives you some hope that it is possible that an Asian American kid who grew up in the Bay Area, can reach the pinnacle of basketball.
Lin is going to be a fan favorite among Warrior fans because he is a local story. Regardless of his ethnicity, people like to back someone from their home town. For the Asian American community, Lin is already king. I can't tell you how many people on Facebook have been talking about it.
What is his role going to be with the Warriors? It's a little unclear. If everything falls in to place, Lin will get some good playing time behind Stephen Curry as the backup point-guard, since CJ Watson was traded to the Bulls earlier this week.
Don't expect Lin to score at will and dominate, because he's still a rookie and that might not be his game. What you can expect is someone who will give it his 100% on the court.
I watched Lin last year at Kezar at the ProAm and out of nowhere, he got up and dunked the ball. He is a good passer with great court vision and has a good feel for the game of basketball. He has that basketball instinct that cannot be taught.
Lin played so well in the summer league in Las Vegas he was weighing offers from not only the Warriors, but the Dallas Mavericks and even the world champion Lakers.
"I consider myself a basketball player more than an Asian-American," Lin said. "I'm ready to play at this level and I appreciate the support of the Asian community. This is a dream come true. I always wanted to be in the NBA and now I get to do it with the Warriors, the team I grew up watching."
"I understand there are not many Asians in the NBA and there are not many Ivy Leaguers in the NBA," Lin said. "Maybe I can help break the stereotype."
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