Jeremy Lin is the starting point guard for the Houston Rockets, was an international sensation last season for the New York Knicks, starred for four years at Harvard and was the California high school player of the year.
But he was not offered a single Division I basketball scholarship and he thinks he knows why: He's of Asian descent.
"I think the obvious thing in my mind is that I was Asian American," Lin told 60 Minutes in an interview airing Sunday. "I think that was a barrier."
It has been widely acknowledged, even by NBA commissioner David Stern, that Lin may have been discriminated against in the NBA because of his race. He wasn't drafted and was cut by the Rockets before landing in New York, where Lin only got a chance when every other Knicks guard got hurt.
"I don't know whether he was discriminated against because he was at Harvard or because he was Asian," Stern told 60 Minutes.
Lin is of Taiwanese descent, but was born in California.
He is averaging 13.2 points, 6.1 assists and 1.7 steals per game for the playoff-bound Rockets.
