NBA / Dec 22, 2008 / 11:09 am
Dime Recommended Reading
We just came across this article that appeared in the San Francisco Gate last week, but for anyone who missed it, we think it’s worth a read today. It’s a really interesting piece on Asian-American ballplayers and how stereotypes have affected them in every facet of the basketball industry.
Check it out and let us know what you think.
Source: SF Gate via Interbasket Twitter Feed
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December 22nd, 2008 at 11:23 am
slygerogg says:
ive seen these stereotypes in real life
by friend is really good
but he is 3rd string on the sophmore team even though he is better than the starters
December 22nd, 2008 at 11:35 am
matt says:
It was an interesting. What can be done? As long as people identify people, themselves and others, with their physical features, there really could be no other solution than quotas.
Can we look at a basketball court, or any playing field, and see a person play without looking at their skin color and other racially identifiable features?
Is our cultural imagination such that an ‘asian’ player would be tricky and intelligent? Quick, little.
Are we just prisoners of our stereotypes and our history?
Personally when I watch KG I am amazed at how well he moves. So tall and athletic. When I see Dirk, who is the same height and weight, I am amazed at his shot, which to me is beautiful. What does that mean? Could I be amazed at a white athletes athletic ability, in the same way as an black athletes athletic ability?
And then there seems to be an idea that America is essentially black and white. Hispanic and Asian are just afterthoughts in the main cultural collective history. How will that change?!?!?! Maybe it’s just a generational issue. Civil rights were a black and white issue and that is essentially settled. With Asian and Hispanic peoples there was not as much public struggle, not as much segregation, not nearly as much slavery and so not nearly as much history.
So in the end we get to make the history. We get to overcome our limits. We get to decide how we view people.
So go for it Lin! Get there. Be a pioneer, you can do it. Challenge us all to question our stereotypes.
December 22nd, 2008 at 11:59 am
junior says:
This really hit home being chinese canadian i tottally understand the article.
The fact that im 6’9 means that some of the stuff isnt relevant.
Tts true though, that there are stereotypes, but as foreign leagues get stronger and deeper, stereotypes will be broken.
Tt will take time, but it will be done.
Also alot of asian americans, have to give up there dreams to get a degree from family pressure, it just comes with culture.
i agree with matt in that basketball is seen as black and white and asians and hispanics are often ignored, but its becoming a global sport, and stereotypes iwll be broken.
December 22nd, 2008 at 12:24 pm
112 says:
Its not just east asians but south asians who have the same problem
December 22nd, 2008 at 1:04 pm
Mamba says:
It really is sad that things in this article could and probably are happening,
I play hoops regularly with an asian-american friend of mine who is very talented and was not only a high school standout, but played some limited college ball, the academic point is interesting since this particular guy is studying to be an engineer and spends a good majority of his time hitting the books and not the court, hence why he has really passed on playing college ball,
I guess for me having played hoops with all different races and backgrounds I always just viewed guys as ballplayers – Can you shoot? Can you board? Can you run the floor? – not wow he is a good player and hes asian! or wow he is very athletic and hes white!,
To me a ballplayer is a ballplayer – whether thats hoops, football, baseball whatever,
You prove your worth by the level of your game and how hard you work, your committment, conditioning, etc. – I really hope my kids or grandkids can see a time when we dont have to classify others and stereotype, especially in something ultimately as meaningless as sports, but as they say thats the world we live in – I just see sports and basketball as something that can bring people together not further serve to keep them seperated
December 22nd, 2008 at 3:52 pm
Jim says:
That’s a lot of weight for a guy to carry around just trying to ball.
The section about the assistant coach is messed up. He says “you don’t want to call it discrimination” but there’s no other name for it.