Mayweather pulls the black card on Lin

[Mikail]

Floyd is speaking the truth here. There is no question about it. Part of the hype to this lin story we are in the middle of is his Asian ethnicity. It's the factor we all know is true but wont mention mainstream. No big deal. Just how our society categorizes things these days.

[migz]

If the story of what happened to Lin happened to a black guy and the team was a high market team like NY..Yes, no matter skin color or ethnicity they would still get the same headlines. The thing about Lin is he is smart, he would destroy Mayweather in anything having to do with intelligence!

Harvard grad vs what grad?

[ToPHeR]

@coachfitz51: There's finally a NBA player who plays hard and says the right things off the court

[tony_come]

too many jealous in this world

2nd lins getting all this attention because hes in NY

lebroom should of gone to NY instead of Maimi

[lunchbawks]

these boxers will do anything for attention.

hey flloyd why don't you fight pac man? because he's asian and may get more attention?

[moshi]

It doesn't matter at all. But folks were criticizing Floyd as if what he said wasn't mostly true. He obviously exaggerated, Lin has set a record and it would be hyped, but not to ROCK-STAR status after a week (especially among Asians).

Well really, what did he expect? If ANYONE talks about race, there's ALWAYS an uproar regardless of how true it may be. Lin's the only Asian-American in the NBA and he's good. Of course Asians are going to come out and support the guy. Represent, right?

[Bcatswin]

these boxers will do anything for attention.

hey flloyd why don't you fight pac man? because he's asian and may get more attention?

[RyanLeafOfBets]

BS.

You're saying all Chinese and Asian Americans would be out buying the dude's jersey after a couple games, making it instantly one of the best sellers of the year? Him being an Asian American obviously adds to the excitement and headlines, both here and elsewhere.

Lou is absolutely right here.
Mayweather said what a lot of people were probably thinking.
I made a joke yesterday that if Lin had went nuts a few weeks earlier, he would've been the #1 vote getter for the All-Star game. Look at how many votes Yao got.
ESPN is smart to hype up Lin, because he's good for ratings.
Same thing with Tebow (since I know a lot of people have compared Lin and Tebow because of their religious beliefs.)

But, Lin would still be getting a ton of hype if he was black, and probably a little bit more than that... because let's face it, we haven't had anyone Non-Black dominate the NBA in a while. Kevin Love is good, but who were the last two game changers? Stockton and Bird?

Race sells, especially when it's something out of the ordinary.

[yisman]

I gotta side with Lou here, the fact that Lin is of Asian descent DOES add to the headlines. Right or wrong, if a black guy upped his numbers like Lin has done, while yes it would get noticed, I bet that player wouldn't grab CNN interviews like Lin has.

Well, obviously.

The Lin story gets the amount of attention it does because of five reasons:

1)He was dumped by several teams and overlooked by everyone.

2)He's doing it on a team without stars.

3)He's of Asian descent, and guys of Asian descent typically have not done well in the NBA (or played much, even).

4)He went to Harvard.

5)It's New York, and especially the Knicks, with the attention that team gets (unlike the Nets, who are coming, but won't compare).

His heritage has to do with him getting overlooked (both by colleges and pro teams) and also with the amount of attention he's getting. If Lin were black, I'm pretty sure he would've been more heavily recruited.

[yisman]

I forgot to mention the last part:

It's in New York and it's the Knicks.

[tokio]

It's not common sense to know how people think. Lets be real. People find it amazing when an Asian can do something other than solve a math problem.

[wtf]

The african american player woulx still get the same media coverage here locally but because lin is asian and they suck generlly compared to someone of african decent in bssketball. I understand the hype. Yeh i agree eiyh that samuel jsckson quote if i was white and had to choose between a black or a whitey president, if i had no understanding of their policies, then my lean would be to pick the guy who look like me. Thats just how humans are,.

u knee grows are funny

if whitey said they you would call him a racist-you are the fukin racist, loser

[SportsPedagogy]

Where was he when Ichiro became famous for doing what white people do all the time ?
Would Barack Obama be just another president that everyone hated if he was white ?
Will lots of black people not react when Nascar gets a black guy ?

People are interested when people do something that their race is not normally associated with. It is not a bad thing

[Ghenghis Kahn]

Does everyone honestly think there would be the exact same level of excitement if Lin was black? Asians have not dominated the NBA as African Americans have, so it of course adds to the excitement.

Fun fact (credit ThePostgame):

if a black kid from harvard was sleeping on his teammates and brother's couch before he became a star, he would get the same treatment. replace jeremy lin with any scrub that came out of harvard or any ivey league school and he'll get the same hype. c'mon now, obviously you love mayweather but don't get beer-goggled over your bromance...

[TehSharp]

Floyd would lose in a fight against Lin

[SBR Lou]

if a black kid from harvard was sleeping on his teammates and brother's couch before he became a star, he would get the same treatment. replace jeremy lin with any scrub that came out of harvard or any ivey league school and he'll get the same hype. c'mon now, obviously you love mayweather but don't get beer-goggled over your bromance...

It would be an equally great story, but there wouldn't be equal interest, there wouldn't be equal jersey sales, and he wouldn't reach the same level of stardom after a week of games. A lot of things play a factor in the Linsanity... the market he's in, his descent, the couch, his scoring after four games... I'm just saying that one of those things wouldn't be as noteworthy. You figure out which.

[alamo]

Floyd is nothing but a racist.

[Bcatswin]

Knicks have no stars

[alling]

he right. media gives praise when a black does well in hockey, golf, nascar, polo, qb, coach...

[SBR Lou]

Knicks have no stars

No likeable stars. The last may very well have been Patrick Ewing.

[Sam Odom]

Lou may have a point!

Imagine the hype if it was the other way around -- Mayweather earned an Harvard degree

[yisman]

Knicks have no stars.

Lin has been playing with Chandler, Fields, Jeffries, etc.

The two "stars" (not necessarily winners, but stars) have not been playing recently during Linsanity.

[Bcatswin]

I no that yisman, was just saying. They are coming back though. Amare tomorrow.

[Chi_archie]

super unique situation with Lin. Not too many ivy league guys that didn't get scholarships to play college ball, played 4 years, didn't get drafted, got cut, almost got cut again, but due to injuries to HUGH thugs, he finally got a chance

Brandon Jennings averaged 20+ for his first month of his first year in the League at age 19. Scored 50-some in one of his first 10 games.

he got alot of hype too. but was it as much? I don't think so if I recall. although there was alot of buzz after his almost 60 point game

a) it was in milwaukee b) the guy was expected to be great out of HS/foreign leagues c) he faded d) he was black???? I don't know

[jsmithj88]

mayweather is 100% correct. if it was another black dude, it wouldnt be as hyped up.
but there are definate racial negativity from his comments.
if he had just said its hyped because hes asian its one thing
but he had add his part about black people getting ignored, as if black people werent getting their due in the nba..........

almost every1 that played PG for the knicks was black and most of them sucked the last 10-15 years. instead of recognizing Lin's talents, its another racial situation

[therealdealau]

I can't believe we are even discussing this.

[crustyme]

it's not a race thing, it's an underdog thing.

why are movies such as rocky, rudy, the rookie, invinicible so popular? because they're stories of underdogs who overcame great odds to achieve their dreams. same applies to lin, who went undrafted and was cut by several teams before realizing his dreams in nyc.

if it were a white guy who was delivering pizzas a week ago or a black guy washing cars at a carwash, they would get the same media coverage if they were doing what lin is doing.

only a jealous lowlife such as pussyweather would try and turn this in to a race thing.

[Mac4Lyfe]

Floyd Mayweather @FloydMayweather
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.

Unreal

While I agree that him being Asian in a predominantly black/white sport makes it an interesting story, but he's earned the hype because of his body of work. He's done over the past few days what no one else has done of any color. The best thing about America is it's diversity and as Americans we should feel proud when someone rises up from the unexpected. Him being Asian adds to the intrigue. We should all embrace our differences and encourage folks to make our country a melting pot. I'd bet that he had a tough time breaking down the stereotypes each night he stepped on the court since Junior High. He had to have a strong will to overcome everyone telling him what he couldn't do. I love it

[yisman]

I no that yisman, was just saying. They are coming back though. Amare tomorrow.

I was explaining the Lin story and part of it is that the Knicks haven't had any stars with him. It'd be a bit diminished if he was doing it with guys like Carmelo and Amar'e playing a big part.

When you have a guy come out of nowhere like Lin and do what he's been doing with no recognizable names around him (except for Chandler, who finally got some real NBA pub for the first time since the Bulls days thanks to Dallas's title), it's huge.

[Chi_archie]

yes its underdog-ish

but to deny that being non-black in the NBA or NFL DOESN'T contribute to the underdog thing is blind too.

don't deny you openly or privately root a BIT harder for the White Receivers and Running Backs in the fall.

LET'S GO JORDY NELSON!!!!!!

[Hansolo]

Agree with yisman

Ill also add another point.

Any player (asian or black or white) putting up lin-type numbers in NYC gets top billing on ESPN Sportscenter every night.

Same player (but asian) gets CNN/NBC/NYT headlines.

Thats the difference between being a sports story and a human-interest story. Race and underdog and ivy league moves 20/10 a game from the back page headline to the front page. thats the difference between water cooler fodder and a household name.

Knicks go 10-0 with Lin and he becomes an internet meme...a true Linderella story.

Solo

[jsmithj88]

if u saw a black dude doing a 360 dunk in the dunk contest its nothing special
if u saw a 5'5 black dude like spud webb doing a 360 dunk, its different
there is some truth to wat mayweather said

lin is averaging all star numbers, and there are a handful that have put up the same numbers for years.
wat makes it different is race, his story and NYC.

[Speedy88]

Everytime Floyd opens his mouth he sounds more and more like an idiot.

[crustyme]

jim morris, a white mlb pitcher, was featured on cnn and had a movie made about him... why?

vince papale, a white football player, also featured in mainstream news and had a movie made about him... why?

jason mcelwain, a white hs basketball player, also featured on cnn and other news programs..... why?

was it all due to their race too? nah, they were all great interesting underdog stories, same as lin.

[Thor4140]

If a white guy said this there wouldn't even be a thread about it. Now for the real most likely reason Mayweather said this is because nobody in the world was betting the Knicks with Amare and Melo (except against shitty minnesota) out of the lineup and Floyd was doing what the general public do when injuries happen to star players. They bet against the team with the star players out and the NBA just like all sports leagues instruct their refs to call the games one sided. Only in the gambling world when a teams best player is out they somehow find this miracle way to win. When i played sports and our best player was out, we got drilled just like we should have. We didn't all step up to take up the slack lmfao.