By now you all know the Jeremy Lin story.

He’s not offered one scholarship out of high school, goes undrafted and gets cut by two NBA teams. He emerges out of nowhere to set the league on fire, scoring the most points of any player in their first five starts of their career since the merger. Lin does all of this days before he is to be cut again.

It’s the sports story of the year. Lin is like Rocky, Rudy and the 1980 Miracle on Ice team rolled into one. His story exemplifies a person who everyone is cheering for. It’s a feel-good story and you can’t help but root for the guy who was living on his brother’s couch a couple weeks ago.

But another factor that make’s Lin’s story so unique is his race. I feel that this would still be a major story if he wasn’t Asian and was instead black or white. He’s playing in the biggest sports market in the country and has invigorated a deadbeat coach and franchise. This would be a major story if he wasn’t Asian, but the fact that he is only transcends the story’s popularity.

As an Asian American, I’d be lying if I didn’t say that I had some cultural pride in what Lin is accomplishing. Sure there have been other Asians to come over to the NBA and make an impact, most notably Yao Ming. However, unlike Yao, who came from China, Lin was raised in the U.S. It’s easier for Asian Americans to relate to him and cheer for him.

But what makes it easy to relate to him isn’t just his race. He represents everyone who has been told they’re not good enough, and proves them wrong. He is showing everyone that with a positive outlook on life and persistent hard work, you can achieve great things. Overall, that’s what makes it easy to cheer for him.

With every story dealing with race, there are always going to be comments made that are racially-fueled and insensitive. That seems to be the case with Lin as well. I’ve realized it’s a part of life and there are always going to be insensitive comments made. Whether it is Fox Sports’ Jason Whitlock insulting Lin and a certain aspect of the Asian anatomy on Twitter or ESPN putting the most insulting slur for Asians in a headline on their online website, the fact of the matter is that a couple comments here or there can’t ruin the feel-good story of the year.

Granted, we’ve only seen a small sample of Lin’s potential. Can he continue to keep this level of play up? He could very well flame out and turn out to be a mediocre player or tear his ACL and never return the same. Neither you nor I know the answer to that question.

For me, I’m not worrying about it. I’m just going to sit back and enjoy one of the best sports stories of my lifetime.

bderouin@lanthorn.com