I was first introduced to Chris Tang's story last December. Jay Caspian Kang, writer for Grantland.com, wrote a great piece about Chris Tang and his basketball journey to reknowned high school basketball mecca, Oak Hill Academy (http://goo.gl/ro8x7). In it Tang talks about the comparisons he now gets to Jeremy Lin. They're both point guards, both athletic specimens, but let's be honest the comparisons arise because they're both Asian.
I know a lot of people are hating on Jeremy Lin this year especially after his monster contract with the Houston Rockets. I'm not one of them. Do I think Lin should be statistically better this year? Do I expect more out of him? Yes and yes. But I'm going to give him more time. After what he did for the city of New York and the game of basketball last season was flat out amazing. Even if it was just for a short portion of the season, Jeremy Lin gave hope to a lot of ballers out there that get overlooked, picked-over and just flat out dismissed as having no game.
That's the main reason I'm so interested in this story. There are thousands of rec leagues around the country. They come with a variety of different restrictions: The Over 40 leagues, The Under 6' leagues, and among a countless number of others… The Asian leagues. I'm all for these different types of leagues where everyone can have fun, be competitive and enjoy playing a game they love. But I'm not interested in those leagues right now.
As an Asian-American, I want to see a great basketball player that is "like me" compete at the highest level of the game. I want to see him/her not back down, but go against the best and earn the respect of the best. I know I'm biased. I'm interested in the Chris Tang story because I'm Asian. But people of all races in all facets of life know what it's like to have to wait for the chance to prove yourself. What happens from there is on us.
Play Chris Tang.