A Modern Resurgence of Asians in Professional Basketball
Christian Hui
Staff Writer
Many college basketball fans right now have probably heard of rising Ivy League sensation Xaivian Lee, a Toronto native tearing it up at guard for the Princeton Tigers. Many comparisons are being made to Jeremy Lin, of Linsanity fame, who also found his start in Ivy League competition.
Things have changed since the days of Linsanity, and especially since Wat Misaka made history as the first non-white and first Asian to take the hardwood in 1947 for the New York Knicks. At one point in time, sports fans could only make a Top 9 list of Asian players in the NBA, but now that is not the case. With NBA staples like Rui Hachimura, Yuta Watanabe, and most recently Grizzlies favorites Yuki Kawamura and Zach Edey making names for themselves at the highest level, the door has opened for more and more Asian talent in the NBA.
These developments come just over a decade after the infamous “Chink in the Armor” headline from a since disgraced ESPN writer. As the NBA and beyond begin to take steps towards multicultural awareness, normalized discrimination and stereotyping within the world of professional basketball towards Asian players has lessened.
In a conversation that connected past and present, Lee recently spoke to Lin about the lessening presence of racism in college hoops. “I mean, stereotypes and stuff, not too much in your face, no straight discrimination, but definitely jokes and stuff – I kind of just rub that off. So yeah, shout out to the Ivy League, you all are making progress. It wasn’t like that when you were hooping?”
“Heck no, when I was out there it was wild it was crazy,” Lin responded, “it [college basketball] was the most hostile in terms of ethnic hate.”
As 2024 nears its end, the cultural awareness of professional basketball has shown great growth since the “Top 9” days of the NBA, opening the door for Asian players at the highest level of competition. With Xaivian Lee continuing to build his draft stock as a junior, and Kawamura receiving love from both sides of the court in his first moments of NBA action, steps are being taken at both levels of basketball to encourage and welcome Asian players to world of professional basketball.
One thing that Lin would leave with Lee was the importance of authenticity at every level of play. “You just have to be like, man, I know who I am, I’m authentic to myself, I’m going to be the best version of myself… people being like yo, you’re our Asian hope. I didn’t know how to handle it and I tried to be everything they wanted me to be, and then the difference flipped when I got to New York.”
Asian players continue to defy expectations of the types of players they should be, changing the game in new and authentic ways at every level of play. Though players like Edey and Lee will constantly be compared to greats like Yao Ming and Lin, they will keep redefining the types of players that they are as individuals.
Modern basketball has moved away from the conventions and stereotypes about “high basketball IQ” and the shame associated with being an ethnic minority on the court. Basketball has never been more open for Asian players, and fans can only expect to see even more Asian game-changers emerge at all levels of play.
Contact Christian at christian.hui@student.shu.edu