Jeremy Lin on showing ID at some arenas: ‘Just part of being Asian in the NBA’

Linsanity is getting hot again, but despite his rise to fame in New York, Houston, Los Angeles and now Charlotte as the first American-born NBA player of Chinese or Taiwanese descent, people still don’t recognize Jeremy Lin.

“It’s one of those things where it literally happens everywhere,” Lin toldESPN.com. “At opposing arenas, it happens all the time. Just the other night in Brooklyn, I was trying to leave (Barclays Center) and one of the ladies was like, ‘Hey, I need your credentials for you to pass.’ And then someone else was like, ‘Oh, he’s a player. He’s good.’ I’m used to it by now. It’s just part of being Asian in the NBA.”

Lin should just wear his No. 7 jersey at all times because the NBA is starting to pay attention to the Hornets, who sit just 1 1/2 games behind the Hawks for the third seed in the Eastern Conference. It’s quite a turnaround for a team that went from three games below .500 to a 42-31 record in a matter of two months.

“At times, it looked bleak and we were struggling,” Lin told ESPN.com. “But we always felt, on paper, if we do this right, if we buy in, if guys get healthy and stay healthy, we have a chance … that we belong in the top tier of the East. From the outside … no one thought we were going to be any good. Whether we’re changing that opinion or not, I don’t know. But on the inside, we always felt we could make noise.”

Lin has been ever-present throughout the journey, offering even less excuse for him to remain unrecognized in arenas around the league.

Lin, despite starting just 11 games to date, is on pace to post his best totals in points and games played since 2012-13, when Lin played all 82 games for the Rockets.

Source: Jeremy Lin on showing ID at some arenas: ‘Just part of being Asian in the NBA’