As we reported last Wednesday, Rockets guard Jeremy Lin has aspirations of one day being an NBA All-Star.
In that piece, I spoke of Lin being his own personal pubic relations team, knowing full well his prospects of being an All-Star sooner than later were very good due to his Asian descent.
Lets face it, no disrespect to anyone, but the Asian community will be out in full force to vote for their All-Star from Houston.
They are fans also, so it’s not a crime.
Pro Basketball Talk via Marc Spears of Yahoo Sports is echoing that same sentiment, and after helping the Rockets demolish the Knicks on Friday, that talk is getting louder.
Spears: “The pressure will get stronger when Lin returns to New York on Dec. 17. But where it could be the biggest headache is during All-Star weekend in Houston, where he will likely get voted in as a starting guard over Chris Paul, Russell Westbrook and Steve Nash thanks to heavy support from Chinese voters. There is no way the host Rockets and the always globally conscious NBA would let him turn the roster spot down.
I agree with Spears and other pundits, the NBA is about its brand, and Jeremy Lin and the Asian community he represents are apart of that brand.
Lin will never receive enough votes to supplant Kobe as a starter, but expect Chris Paul and Russell Westbrook to play the All-Star game coming off the bench.
That is the system in place, and the one time the NBA fans have power.
I don’t expect it to be the greatest moment of Lin’s career, and I fully expect him to get treated kind of badly.
That’s the way it goes.