Stereotypes and the NBA

Shawn Kurian

America is a place that is lauded for its overall tolerance for people of all different cultures and ethnicities. But it is not always true. America was nicknamed “the melting pot” of the world. However, a melting pot includes in its description, a mixing and unifying of cultures; “melting all the cultures together into one. This has caused many to argue that America is instead a “salad bowl” where multiple cultures exist together in one form but remain distinct. As a general civilian of Chicago, I have seen the salad bowl much more clearly than the melting pot, because prejudices and stereotypes still keep some people from integrating fully. Most recently, NBA sensation Jeremy Lin called out this inequality that exists in an interview as a reason that prevented from entering the NBA earlier.

Jeremy Lin is a 24 year old, second year NBA player and starting

point guard for the Houston Rockets. Lin shot to fame after being picked up by the New York Knicks due to injuries to their other guards, and then performing phenomenally until injured late in the season. As a result, the Rockets signed him for a three year $25 million contract to play for them. But what further adds to Lin’s story is that he came undrafted out of Harvard, then played briefly for the Golden State Warriors and Rockets, but then returned to the NBA’s development league, where he was picked up by New York. Recently, Lin conducted an interview with ‘60 minutes’ and discussed how a race barrier in college prevented him from being drafted out of high school. Indeed, after being Palo Alto HIgh School’s basketball team’s captain as well as California’s player the year award. Yet, he was not picked by either UCLA, Stanford, nor Harvard for basketball.   

Lin’s ethnicity is part of why he was a sensation last season. Other than Yao Ming, there hadn’t been  a Asian NBA player that reached the national and even international spotlight. But upon reaching the spotlight, Lin reflects that being a white or black high schooler would have given him the chance to be drafted by a college. Though heavily underrated, the stereotypes and prejudices that keep of different cultures away from reaching their full potential is surprisingly large. And while Lin is living well now, imagine he could have been if he had played for college and was then drafted into the NBA.

So how do you become well-known even if stereotypes are held against you? Work hard, play hard, and you can get recognized for your work. The NBA is seeking to accept players from all over the world, especially American states, and as the premier basketball league seeks to a place for high and strong competition. Let us hope that the NBA continues to this with continued attention to giving all players a fair chance to come play.

Balance

One of the greatest things about our lives are the limitless opportunity that it presents— however, it also serves as the biggest dilemma. There are so many things to do, so many places to be, and so many people to be there and do them with. But, not nearly enough time to do them all— I mean you only have 24 hours in a day, 7 days in a week, and you gotta sleep. So what do you do? You play a balancing act.

And as a student that balancing act is perhaps the greatest of all, when you think about it, you’re “forced” to be somewhere from seven to three (i.e. school), not including extra curriculars and the time spent doing homework, and you have to somehow manage to fit everything in that you’ve chosen to do for yourself. We all know how it feels and it only gets worse after school— commitments get harder and more responsibility comes with the age. And balancing is all about priorities, people make more time for what they believe is important. Personally, I do believe that education and such is very significant, however, it’s obviously not everything. And there are a few opportunities one has to put graded education on the backburner and simply enjoy themselves. As a second semester senior, I can happily say that I’ve been blessed with one of those opportunities as I write, and I’m here to tell you why senioritis isn’t such a bad thing after all.

Senioritis contrary to popular belief isn’t so much the complete falling out of all educational desire, but it’s really just a reprioritization of a student’s personal pursuits. We’ve spent a large part of three and a half years devoting our time to grooming and maintaining this number called a grade point average (although I can’t speak for everybody), and finally, we get this semester to not have to focus on that silly number. And it’s honestly ridiculous to expect kids to not mentally take some time off— maybe the only time they’re ever going to have this ever again. Think about it, the second semester of college will matter because it affects the gpa that’ll be shown to future employers, and once you’re in the workforce, who knows how much time you’ll have off. This is the time to pick up that dusted guitar, to read that book without having to scribble your thoughts on every page, to simply enjoy yourself.

And it’s not to say that it’s okay to stop working, because it’s not— but maybe the next time you’re inside studying for that test on differential equations that probably won’t matter the day after you take it, go outside, gather the neighborhood gang on the sandlot or find a dog and teach it to play basketball. Cause life’s a balancing act, but the few times where you can really prioritize yourself, capitalize. 

Captain Kirk

Chicago went absolutely insane over their hometown Bulls last Wednesday, with a fervor that typically follows a championship game. And it wasn’t even the playoffs. All they did was add another W in the regular season’s column, but the loss that it meant for their opponents that night meant a heck of a lot more.

Last week the Bulls put an end to the Miami Heat’s 27 game win streak— they hadn’t lost a game since February 1^st. And even if you don’t know basketball, that’s an incredible streak to maintain. For a third of an NBA season, they were flawless— making it the second longest winning streak in the history of the league. The first belonging to the 1972 Los Angeles Lakers, but in a league with a substantially smaller number of teams, and where teams didn’t play games nearly as close to one another. Which all make the Heat’s run significantly more impressive.

            So here’s the conundrum— that game didn’t technically mean that much to Chicago, so why did they celebrate like it did? And the answer is because the Heat are a better team and everybody knows it. Miami knows it, ESPN knows it, even Chicago knows it. There’s a level of understood inequality between the two teams, which makes the win by the underdog novel and exciting. And the phenomenon isn’t isolated to the world of sports. People love when the unexpected occurs— when an underdog pulls off an upset, when a David beats a Goliath, when inequality doesn’t win.

            Yes, inequality tips the scale in competition, but when the odds are upset we go ballistic. And it hits the core of the human experience— it’s a story about defiance and hope. We cling onto stories that show us that anything is possible, and that’s why, in some sense, we need inequality. To tell us that we can’t, so we can.

            For the bulls they won with scrappiness and heart, although talented they were clearly inferior on paper, and when Kirk Hinrich wrapped up Lebron James and took him down a drive, it epitomized what it means to defy inequality. You’re going to have to put in 110% and play your heart out if you’re going to pull it off.