AS the number of violent attacks against Asian Americans escalates, former New York Knicks star Jeremy Lin said he has experienced racism while playing basketball.

“Being a 9-year NBA veteran doesn’t protect me from being called ‘coronavirus’ on the court,” the former New York Knicks star wrote on Facebook.

Lin, who currently plays for the Santa Cruz Warriors, which is the G League affiliate of the Golden State Warriors, expressed his anguish for the racism Thursday. In his post, Lin recounted the several ways Asian Americans experience racism, prejudice and bigotry.

“Something is changing in this generation of Asian Americans. We are tired of being told that we don’t experience racism, we are tired of being told to keep our heads down and not make trouble,” he wrote.

“We are tired of Asian American kids growing up and being asked where they’re REALLY from, of having our eyes mocked, of being objectified as exotic or being told we’re inherently unattractive. We are tired of the stereotypes in Hollywood affecting our psyche and limiting who we think we can be. We are tired of being invisible, of being mistaken for our colleague or told our struggles aren’t as real.”

In 2019, Lin became the first Asian American to win a NBA title while playing for the Toronto Raptors. Lin became a household name back in 2012, when he emerged as the breakout star of the New York Knicks. His success was dubbed “Linsanity.”

Lin, who has helped other Asian-American athletes fight racist stereotypes, is the latest high-profile figure speaking up to stop the violence against the Asian American community.

Earlier this month, actress Olivia Munn joined the effort to help find a man who attacked an Asian American woman on the streets of New York while actors Daniel Wu and Daniel Dae Kim teamed up to offer a US$25,000 reward for information leading to an arrest in attacks that took place in Oakland’s Chinatown.

(SD-Agencies)