Floyd Mayweather questions Jeremy Lin

ESPNNewYork.com ^ | February 14, 2012 | Ian Begley

[ConservativeStatement]

Boxer Floyd Mayweather believes that New York Knicks point guard Jeremy Lin is getting national attention because of his race, rather than his exceptional play.

"Jeremy Lin is a good player but all the hype is because he's Asian. Black players do what he does every night and don't get the same praise," Mayweather wrote on his Twitter account on Monday afternoon.

[ConservativeStatement]

And then there's the inflated "hype" of one Barack Obama.

[bigdirty]

LOLLLLL

Floyd Mayweather is absolutely right about Jeremy Lin. BUT black people in general have received inflated praise for accomplishments that if they were white would receive no fanfare whatsoever.

[Puppage]

Go slap your baby momma some more, Floyd. No one gives a flip what you think.

[crosshairs]

Floyd, not every race gets the affirmative action treatment.

[skeeter]

It figures pro basketball would be the one and only activity in the nation where skill decides who advance and who doesn’t.

[GeronL]

Lin was getting praised because he did what few black players have done, he stayed toe to toe with Kobe Bryant.

[NorthStarStateConservative]

Yet when Rush Limbaugh says the same about black quarterbacks, it’s headline news.

[brownsfan]

Hey Floyd welcome to the other side. I’m a white male, do you know how tiresome it gets to be to see glowing stories when anyone who isn’t a white male does something noteworthy?

You’re a member of what is the dominant culture in the NBA. Sit back, relax, enjoy.

[blueunicorn6]

Jeremy Lin is asian?

[Hatteras]

"You’re a member of what is the dominant culture in the NBA."

Um, look at the very first word of the story. "Boxer". Floyd is a boxer. He beats up other minorities for a living.

[over3Owithabrain]

Sorry Floyd that someone ruined your private black house party known as the NBA. And an Asian no less. Those little fellows should be running grocery stores in the hood so your peeps can rob them, right?

Lin being Asian and taking it to the black guys is a big part of the story but so what? He also is making news because he went to Harvard, not exactly a feeder school for NBA guys. And he was undrafted so you have another fun part of the whole underdog story.

So deal with it Floyd and quit whining and playing the race victim card. No one complained when that "black guys can swim" movie came out.

[chopperman]

Lin is the first player in league history to have at least 20 points and seven assists in each of his four career starts - better than Michael Jordan.

If Merriwether wants to scream ‘racist’, he should point at the one he sees in a mirror.

[mkboyce]

No, Mayweather is exactly wrong about Jeremy Lin.

Over the past 5 games in which he has had his first career starts, Lin has scored more points than any NBA player in HISTORY. This includes all-time greats like Jordan, Shaq and Iverson.

So Money May’ ought to shut his trap and box.

[PBRSTREETGANG]

Floyd Mayweather is absolutely right about Jeremy Lin.

No...actually he's not right at all and his response smacks of ignorance and racism. Lin had the best 4 game start of any point guard since the merger of the ABA and NBA regardless of color or background.

Whether Lin pans out over time, as some of his game is figured out, remains to be seen. But, to say "black players do what (Lin) does every night..." is patently false since this type of start has never been done before.

[pogo101]

All that is certain is that May is a chicken who won’t fight Pac Man.

[GreenHornet]

He’s right - look at the sparse amount of publicity that has been given to players like Julius Erving, Michael Jordan, Kareem Abdul Jabar, Shaquille O’Neal, Lebron James, and Kobe Bryant over the years.

[Coldwater Creek]

Lay off Myweather. He's punch drunk and doesn't know what he is saying.

[ConservativeTeen]

I really hope Pacquiao shuts him up if/when they fight.

[driftless2]

Why is the Jeremy Lin story so huge? Well there's the Asian-American aspect, but the fact is Lin started getting major minutes and playing like a superstar on a team that was headed nowhere and now is being talked about as a contender in the playoffs. Lin turned the fortunes of the Knicks around something the previous Knick guards, all of them African-American, had been unable to do. Does anyone think that if Lin were Black, he still wouldn't be a huge story? I'm not a Knicks fan (Bucks fan), but I've watched Lin play the last five games. Nobody has been able to stop him, and he's played against some pretty good teams. The only game he's faltered was against the T-Wolves, and he was obviously exhausted in the second half.

If you're a Knick fan, and Lin was Black, would you be any less deliriously happy about his play and the prospects for his team in the future? I think not. I'd gladly swap any three players on the Bucks for Lin. Yes, Bogut, Jennings, and name the player.

[SeaHawkFan]

Lin was a dominate high school player against topflight competition.

Just maybe his race was a negative factor in getting recruited out of high school.