After becoming the first Asian American to ever win an NBA championship, Jeremy Lin dressed to impress at Toronto’s victory parade on Sunday.
Lin wore a purple Tracy McGrady jersey dating back to the Raptors inaugural years in the league. However, the team name on the front was rendered in Chinese, menglong (猛龍).
Lin’s journey to the championship parade is an inspiring one. After going undrafted out of Harvard, Lin slept on teammate couches and played in the D-league before finally getting his big chance in New York. He didn’t waste the opportunity, igniting a global craze known as 「Linsanity」 with his incredible play.
Unfortunately, a knee injury cut Linsanity short and Lin was never again able to recapture that same magic. He has, however, remained a valuable journeyman point guard, playing on eight different teams in nine seasons. He was signed by the Raptors in February and many thought he would be a part of the team’s playoff rotation.
However, Toronto coach Nick Nurse instead decided to stick with backup guard Fred VanVleet and Lin became essentially a human victory cigar, only entering the game once the outcome was no longer in doubt and playing less than a minute in the finals.
In an interview after the win, Lin talked about his lack of playing time and explained that there were times when he had to tell himself that he deserved a championship. 「Then when I thought about the journey, yeah, I definitely do… being a voice is very very valuable.」
Lin celebrated the victory with his family. In an Instagram post, he promised that he would 「never stop reppin Asians with everything I have!」
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