Jeremy Lin: The Hype Machine

Jeremy Lin has had a very good first couple of games and deserves a lot of the shine he is getting, but this Hype is reaching levels I don't think we've seen before. Per ESPN Linsanity will be on display at the dunk contest, but he won't be dunking, he'll just be assisting Iman Shumpert, which probably makes Shumpert the front runner to win. There's never been a buzz about someone HELPING in the dunk contest before. Why is the Hype around Lin so High? Mayweather Chimed in

"Jeremy Lin is a good player but all the hype is because he's Asian. Black players do what he does every night and don't get the same praise."

I tend to agree with part of what he says. I think the fact that hes Asian (a minority in the NBA) is responsible for a good amount of the hype. I dont. I disagree that players do it every night in the way that he has.  The opinion thats its due to race is not a racist thought. I think it adds to the story, similar to when a young Tiger Woods took the game of golf by storm. People are just afraid to mention anything regarding race, because they want to think we live in a Post Racial Society. Kind of amusing...

The Biggest reason for the hype is my opinion is about color, but not so much race (Although i think race is apart of it). Its about GREEN .... $$$$ CASH MONEY $$$ ... Lin plays in the biggest sports market in the country, a City with 10 million citizens not including the million of fans in other cities. Millions of people in Asia, who need a star to the support with the retirement of Yao. Lin is 10x more likeable than Yao and Yao had one of the highest selling Jerseys while he played. David Stern (NBA Commisioner) sees the earning potential of Lin in the biggest Market in the country and he is a descendant from a culture with one of the largest populations in the world. If Lin can keep playing like this or near this level, He'll be one of the highest earning athletes in ALL of sports in 5 years.