and at the end of the day. Damn Skippy. Im pretty sure he's gonna get better, but even if he got hurt today or didnt live up to my expectations and ended up staying an average starting pg, this article below is what he means to me growing up as an Asian kid in America.

Im ridin for him like Truth would ride for a Black kid from East St. Louis Named Deron Kobe Williams, who hates gays, europeans, and plays quarterback.

and here's why.

via Laker Beat writer Kevin Ding

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See Jeremy Lin’s impact through the inspired eyes of a child
By KEVIN DING
2012-02-10 05:35:17

Plenty of people are telling the Jeremy Lin story, because it's just a good story. The underdog, the unexpected and the first player since LeBron James nearly a decade ago to put up at least 20 points and eight assists in his first two NBA starts.

I could certainly tell you my version of the story as a fellow Taiwanese-American. The spray of Lin's big splash has been invigorating, and it's both fascinating and empowering to consider the cells in the brains of so many closed-minded folks creaking slowly open with every great game Lin has.

Yet I've also covered the NBA for more than a decade, journalistic objectivity desensitizing me on some level to that fan spirit inside. I know this because I've talked to many people by now about Lin's meteoric rise the past week, and I'm not at all clear whether they or the New York Giants just won the Super Bowl.

As pretty as we now know Lin can run the point, the real beauty in this lies in his effect on others. In this world of big-business basketball, in a season nearly strangled by the lockout, he has provided something absolutely pure.

I know just the person to explain that.

"He's the first one," Justin Wu, 13, said when I called him Wednesday night.

Justin put off studying for his eighth-grade math test to talk to me. He is also Taiwanese-American and is actually my cousin's son. Justin plays for three basketball teams, including starting at guard for a top AAU traveling squad in California.

"He proves that Asians aren't all just nerdy and smart," Justin said. "Asians can be athletically just as good as anyone."

Through the inspired eyes of a child we see how simple things can be, how occasionally easy it is for an important message to sink in.

If there's one idea that Justin needs to believe in right now, it's that one. He wants to do the things Jeremy Lin has done. Now there's tangible proof that he can.

"He had the determination and will to be the best and to balance sports and academics," Justin said, "and that's just what I want to do."

Along the same lines, all the people out there who are parents to kids like Justin need examples, too. The Asian-American parent is in too many cases closed-minded, too – willing to drive to SAT prep class but not the gym, rigidly plotting a pre-professional plan instead of fanning the flames of passion.

Lin's parents did force-feed him piano lessons like so many Asian-American parents, but he loved and was better at basketball. My parents force-fed me piano but recognized I was better at baseball. My parents force-fed my sister piano but recognized she was just as good at art.

Lin's parents, same as mine, force-fed academics more than anything – but they were happy to push Jeremy to excel in the direction he wanted to go. And once basketball paved the way for Jeremy to be accepted into Harvard, all of a sudden Jeremy's mom wasn't hearing whispers about her wasting his time with sports anymore.

In part because of his father's interest in the basketball, Jeremy always wanted to go to the court – and soon enough that evolved to where his father was just dropping him off at the gym when Jeremy was Justin's age ... so Jeremy could test himself against grown men in their mid-20's who could seriously ball.

That's the fearlessness that comes before greatness ... but is only borne out of a child developing passion and confidence.

See, this is about race but it isn't. As big a deal as race is, it's actually part of something even broader here.

At its purest level, being a sports fan is seeing something in an athlete that looks familiar, connects with you and resonates inside – and then you root for it. Race is just the easiest thing to see – in your face in more ways than one.

Justin lives in Irvine, and after much debate, his parents decided to take him up to Palo Alto for the Jeremy Lin Basketball Academy in late June. Justin wound up getting some private time with Jeremy, and a few minutes at Jamba Juice turned into an hour and a half of Jeremy downloading insights directly to Justin.

Even more than the jab step that has changed Justin's basketball life, one thing from Jeremy really stuck. Interestingly, it had nothing to do with race – because Justin needed inspiration in another way, too.

Justin is 5-foot-1, playing against other AAU point guards as tall as 5-7. Other kids he's playing against are as tall as 6-5 already.

"When he was a freshman in high school, he was only 5-1," Justin said Jeremy told him, "and he grew three inches every year in high school."

Justin senses the prejudgments "because of my height and maybe because of my race." He was nervous despite a strong tryout for the AAU team that he would still be "overlooked."

And again, this is why we need to hear from Justin to understand fully how this inspiration works.

Talk about fundamentals ... we all need reason to hope, but especially kids.

In Lin's case, adults who are Asian-Americans, Christians and Ivy League econ majors happen to be all lining up behind him to indulge their hope, too.

It can be that simple.

It can be, but it often isn't – as Jeremy, now 6-3, learned last season with the Golden State Warriors.

His first year in the NBA – his supposed glorious ride as the league's first American of Taiwanese or Chinese descent – was far from a dream come true. It was easily the toughest year of his life, actually, because of how much pressure he put on himself to live up to the dreams of everyone watching him ... instead of playing with that same passion he was actually inspiring in others.

Part of the reason Lin didn't stick with the Warriors was because he didn't consistently get better. He was worrying all the time about getting better – to the point that he was crying in bed when he didn't.

He worked through the mental struggle well enough to take advantage of this sudden opportunity he has gotten with the New York Knicks, who face the Lakers on Friday night. The game will mark Lin's first national TV showcase, and the Lakers will be a far bigger and tougher defense than what he faced in his past three magical victories.

Win or lose, after Friday night more to prove will await.

And as organic as what Justin feels for Jeremy is, it is not blind.

Justin will tell you that Chris Paul was actually only 5 feet tall as a freshman in high school.

"Chris Paul is more of a complete player," Justin said. "Once Jeremy becomes better and proves himself more, he'll probably surpass Chris Paul pretty easily as my favorite. Until he does, Chris Paul is still my favorite player."

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