The Houston Rockets have offered free-agent basketball guard Jeremy Lin a three-year, back-end loaded contract for approximately twenty-five million United States Dollars (US$25,000,000.00). The New York Knicks, who had promised their fans that they would sign Lin when the signing window opened, now have to decide (by Tuesday night) whether to match the Rockets' offer. If they do, they get him; if they don't, then he will play for the Rockets.
This basketball guard was, for a nanosecond last year, the toast of New York, scoring a bunch of points and getting a lot of assists while playing for the Knicks during a period when their starting guards were injured. The Knicks won most of the games with him in the lineup.
But this level of performance by both Lin and the Knicks proved to be an illusion BEFORE Lin was sidelined with a knee injury. The reason why he had done well is because the other teams were justifiably NOT COVERING him, instead focusing their energy on other players who seemed most likely to score. Once the other teams started actually assigning a decent defensive player to cover Lin, the bubble burst and he earned his seat on the bench furthest from the coach. They continued to "give him minutes," of course - he was much too popular to completely bench, but his professional status was pretty much what it had been before his fifteen minutes of fame.
But from a P.R. standpoint, the Knicks had inadvertently managed to capture fire in a bottle. The N.Y. (and even national) fans LOVED him, and they LOVED the Knicks during this brief period of excellence.
Houston clearly is hoping - against all logic - that he can replicate that magic in Texas, FOR THREE YEARS.
There is only one explanation that can possibly explain the Rockets' blind faith in this highly-unlikely future course of events: Racism.
The Rockets are hoping that by showcasing this lovable-but-mediocre talent they can capitalize on two extraordinary factors: (1) Lin is NOT of black African ancestry, and (2) Lin is Asian (like that other Asian guy - Chairman Yao - that retired a few years ago).
If he were a "Black Guy" from New York with exactly the same level of talent and potential, he would be planning for a year in the CBA or in Europe, and again hoping that some NBA franchise would pick him up for part of the next season so that he could make a few months of Big Bucks and bank some time toward retirement.
If he were a "White Guy" from Indiana with exactly the same level of talent and potential, he would have a pretty good chance of making an NBA squad for the entire season, getting into games when his team is either so far ahead or so far behind that he can't do anything to fuck things up.
Or is this a manifestation of legitimate Affirmative Action for Asians?