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(Northwest Asian Weekly) 2010 was another great year for sports. We saw big international events such as the Winter Olympics and the World Cup. We saw the return of Tiger Woods to golf and the continued dominance of Manny Pacquiao in boxing.

Locally, the Mariners had a disappointing season as hopes of a World Series were quickly dashed and Don Wakamatsu was let go midway through the season. Former University of Southern California head football coach, Pete Carroll, began his first year as the head coach of the Seattle Seahawks. The University of Washington football team will be going to its first bowl game since 2002. On the women’s side, the University of Washington softball team made it back to the College World Series. Lastly, the Seattle Storm claimed its second WNBA title.

There were landmark firsts in the NFL and NBA. Ed Wang became the first Chinese American to be drafted in the NFL. Harvard University guard Jeremy Lin became the first Taiwanese American to play in the NBA. In addition, former Sonics executive, Rich Cho, was chosen to be the general manager for the Portland Trailblazers. Cho is the first Asian American general manager in the NBA.

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(NESN.com) Jeremy Lin is ready to make a name for himself on basketball’s biggest stage. That’s what he’s done at every other level, so why should the NBA be any different?

Lin will get a shot with the Golden State Warriors.

His journey from being unrecruited out of high school to going undrafted to making the Association with his self-proclaimed favorite team would be a great story, regardless. Add the fact that Lin is an Asian who graduated from Harvard, and it becomes something a little bigger.

His last name, Lin, tells us that he is of Asian descent. His first name, more importantly, tells us that he is not just Asian, but Asian-American. Asians in the NBA, though few in number, are nothing new. We all know about Houston Rockets center Yao Ming. There’s also Yi Jianlian, the sixth pick in the 2007 NBA draft, now with the Washington Wizards. And Sun Yue was drafted in ‘07 by the Lakers. However, what these players all have in common is that they are from China. They were born in China, played in China and then came to the NBA.

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(Asian Week) Harvard education. NBA skills. Jeremy Lin has both.

Lin, a 6′3”, 200-pound point guard, is training in anticipation of the NBA draft next Thursday, June 24. Lin, a Taiwanese American, would be rare in a league dominated by white and Black players.

“Jeremy loved soccer and basketball even before the age of 5. He would go to all of his older brother’s practices and just do the drills on the sideline by himself. When he was in the fourth grade, we realized that YMCA basketball was no longer challenging for him, so we started looking for higher level basketball leagues,” said Lin’s mother, Shirley.

Lin’s parents immigrated to the United States from Taiwan. They are both computer engineers. Lin’s father, Gie-Ming, is a huge basketball fan and shared this love with his three sons. When Jeremy began playing Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) basketball, Shirley and Gie-Ming realized that Jeremy had a talent. Even with talent, Shirley doesn’t forget the hard work and effort that her son has put in since he was young in order to one day play in the NBA.

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