League G is investigating a statement made by Jeremy Lin, who he said was called “Coronavirus” during a game, an ESPN League official, Marc Spears, said on Friday.
In a Facebook post on Thursday, Lin, the former NBA goalkeeper who now plays for the Santa Cruz Warriors in the G League, spoke about the racism still facing the Asian-American community and gave examples that he said he he had.
“Being a 9-year NBA veteran doesn’t protect me from being called a ‘coronavirus’ on the field,” he wrote.
Lin did not specify when it was called that. He currently participates in the G-League in Orlando, Florida, as a member of the Santa Cruz, Warriors affiliate.
On Friday night, Warriors coach Steve Kerr said he would like the NBA to investigate Lin’s claim.
“I just saw the post on Facebook,” Kerr said. “It’s really strong. I applaud Jeremy for his words and echo his feelings about racism against the Asian-American community. It’s so ridiculous and obviously generated by so many people, including our former president (Donald Trump), as far as the coronavirus from China is concerned. It’s shocking. I don’t know, I can’t understand anything, but I can’t understand racism in general. “
Lin became the first NBA player born in America of Chinese or Taiwanese origin, when he assaulted the Golden State Warriors in the 2010-11 season. He became best known for a series of goals, which led to victories with the New York Knicks in the 2011-12 season, which was described as “Linsanity”. In total, the former Harvard star averaged 11.6 points and 4.3 assists in 480 NBA games from 2010 to 2019.
Prior to this season’s G-League internship, he played for the Chinese Basketball Association.
When specifically asked if he would like to see an investigation into Lin’s request, Kerr responded quickly on Friday.
“Oh, yes, sure,” he said. “As I said, I saw the post, the reference was a bit vague, so I think it would be nice to know what happened.”