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Jeremy Lin opens up about Linsanity, fans, and being Asian American in GQ Magazine
Jeremy Lin graces the cover of the November issue of GQ Magazine, hitting news stands October 23.
AsianConnections thanks GQ and Conde Nast for permission to use these knock-out images of Jeremy by Paola Kudacki/GQ Magazine.
The slogan on GQ's cover is "Look Sharp - Live Smart" - Jeremy Lin certainly looks sharp in these photos, he's one photogenic guy.
Lin talks with GQ writer Will Leitch who spent time with him when he was in the Big Apple to do the GQ photo shoot and attend other events. It was Lin's first trip to New York since it was announced that he would no longer be a Knicks player.
Lin talks about how the fans and Linsanity affected him, the Knicks, the Houston Rockets, and being Asian American.
Read the GQ article and view more images of Jeremy by Paola Kudacki and a behind the scenes video by Matt Baron here.
"There's a lot of perceptions and stereotypes of Asian-Americans that are out there today, and the fact that I'm Asian-American makes it harder to believe, even crazier, more unexpected," he says. "I'm going to have to play well for a longer period of time for certain people to believe it, because I'm Asian.
And that's just the reality of it." It's not all that dissimilar from what Yao Ming went through. "When Yao came out his rookie year as the first pick of the Draft, you have Charles Barkley saying, 'If he scores seventeen points in a game, I'm going to kiss a donkey's butt,' " Lin says. "If you do it for long enough, I think you would get the respect."
GQ's Will Leitch asks Lin what he would want to say to anyone who believed in him last year, the people who made Linsanity happen. "I think they changed my life dramatically," he says. "My life will never be the same—but I don't think I necessarily did that for anybody, you know?
The impact on my life was greater than the impact I had on any of their lives. People are moved by my story, but they're only moved by my story because of what I do on the court." The trick, he says, is making sure he's able to be both his true self and the player fans need him to be.
"Can I do that? I hope so. I think I can."
RELATED ARTICLES:
In the Locker Room with Jeremy Lin at Madison Square Garden by Suzanne Joe Kai March 11, 2012
Linsanity - Confirming Stereotypes? (5 of a 5 part series) by Author, journalist and former reporter with the Wall Street Journal William Wong
Jeremy Lin "Am I Linsane? You betcha!" by Author, journalist and former reporter with the Wall Street Journal William Wong
Jeremy Lin coverage on Wikipedia
Jeremy Lin's Official Channel on YouTube.com