All language subtitles for the2028.WEBRip.x264.AAC5.1

- This Garden crowd
on its feet

is delirious right now.

[dramatic music]

His IQ for the game
is off the chart.

Lin puts it up, puts it in!

[whistle blows]

- While I'm watching
this live, I'm like,

"This cannot be happening.

This cannot be happening."

- And listen
to this Garden crowd

on this 10-0 run.

- I know Jeremy.

Type A, high-achieving,
[indistinct] kid.

I know
what his house smells like.

I know what his mom's minivan
smells like.

Like, I know you, Jeremy.

- Pull-up jump shot.

Knocks it down!
[whistle blows]

- I'm a Lakers fan,
but I'm out here cheering

for the Knicks.

I think it just blew all
of our minds

that we would see someone
that looked like my cousin

dominate on an NBA court.

It's the playground
basketball court

where people like me,
as a kid, would be bullied.

- Lin for three! Bang!

- The reason
this matters so much

is because if you are
an Asian American person,

you have spent
your entire life

identifying with people
who look nothing like you.

But now,
I can just see someone

who actually looks like me,
and that's it?

I didn't know
it could be this easy.

- Linsanity continues here
at Madison Square Garden.

A career-high 38 points...

- An Asian guy dropping 38
on Kobe?

- It was incredible.

- 38 points
in New fucking York City.

[dramatic musical sting]

- Hold up, hold up.

Before we get into any
of this,

let's jump back
to the beginning.

[audio playback]

Because there's no way
any of this

should have been possible.

[light percussive music]

♪ ♪

- No one's telling little Asian
American immigrant girls,

"You should
be a stand-up comedian."

I bet you no one's telling
little Asian American boys,

"You need to grow up
to be an NBA basketball star."

- Oh, Miyoko,

what do you think of item
for loose paper?

- When most Americans
think about Asians,

they think about dry cleaners.

They think about IT guy.

They think about emasculated,
no-dick-having,

no-luck-with-women-having
dudes.

They think of dragon lady,
sex workers.

They think
of masseuse's happy endings.

I could keep going.

If you are all
of those five things,

that means you're definitely
not...

- For anyone to break outside
of these norms is strange.

People don't understand it.

- People go, "Well, how harmful
are those stereotypes?"

You're like,
"Yeah, it's kind of harmful

if I have big dreams."

If my dreams
are for middle management,

sure, being small,
unathletic, diminutive,

passive, great, great.

I'll send you the reports, Bob.

But if I'm trying
to be "The Guy,"

at work, at school...

in the NBA,

you cannot be any
of those things.

- It's this constant, like,
overwhelming sense of doubt

from the outside
that tempted me

to even not believe in myself.

That was one
of the biggest obstacles

that I had to overcome.

- Asian Americans
have just gotten beaten down

because the stereotyping,
the derision,

the media portrayals,

mischaracterizations
of Asian Americans

are so rampant.

- To people
who ask "What do I do?"

I say, "I work for ESPN."

They say,
"Oh, so like tech support."

Seriously.

From someone else
who worked in the business.

- On top
of all the stereotypes,

the racism going on
on the outside,

I mean, inside the house,
Asian parents,

different set of priorities.

- When I was a child,

there was a doctor
named Dr. Ho

that was
on the "TIME" magazine cover

for figuring out AIDS and shit.

- He just studied--
he just studied.

He kept studying.

- I remember
my parents brought that up.

They're like, "Yo, Dr. Ho.

That's a good fucking Asian."

[laughing] Okay?

- And then eventually,
he studied so hard

that he cured AIDS.

That's almost
the Asian parents' dream,

that you're gonna study a way
into success and prominence.

If you study hard enough,

you're gonna become
a rock star.

[electric guitar riff]

- Our parents come
to this country,

and they basically see a finite
number of possibilities.

And to the best
of their ability,

they're preparing us
for a certain version

of the world.

- You're here.
You came to America.

Your job is literally
to get A's

and listen to your teacher.

That's what my parents told me.

- All of a sudden,
the realm of possibility

becomes this narrow.

And everything
that's cool and relevant

is all in this part.

- All these Asian parents
supporting Jeremy Lin,

like, love him to death.

"Oh, my God, Jeremy Lin,
what a hero."

How many of these parents would
have encouraged their kids

to do what Jeremy Lin
was doing

when, you know,
the kids need that backing

at crucial moments
in their development?

- What's different
about my story

is that my dad
really loved basketball.

I mean, he was obsessed.

My mom's dream was that I would
be great at piano,

and she bought a beautiful
piano and all this.

And then finally, I remember
after about five, six years,

my mom was just like,

"You don't have
to play piano any more.

I'm not gonna force you
to do it anymore."

And I'm saying that was, like--

it's one the best moment
of my life.

That's when I knew, like,

all right,
my mom's all in with this.

And from there it was just
competitive basketball.

- Lin led Palo Alto
High School

to an upset victory,

also earned
Northern California

Division II Player of the Year
honors.

- It's the best feeling
to go out on top.

I mean,
it is a dream come true.

Me and my dad--
we had to cut together

our own highlight tape.

And we're sending them out,
just hoping and praying

that somebody will like it
and give us a response.

I mean, at the end of the day,

I won a state championship,

I was California
Player of the Year,

and I had zero
scholarship offers.

None.

- I grew up
in Northern California

when Jeremy Lin was playing
for Palo Alto High School.

When he played

at one of the state
championship games

at ARCO Arena,
I remember being like,

"Who is that Asian kid
with spiky hair?

"Oh, that's cool.

"That's a cool little
high school run.

Dope."

Like, even my expectations
of myself

and the community was capped.

I was like, "Oh, he made
a starting rotation.

"Oh, he got to play
on an NBA court.

"That's pretty cool.

Let's see what he does
after that."

Like, oh,
he'll probably hard pivot

into, like, premed.

- At the end, it came down
to Harvard and MIT,

neither of which gave
athletic scholarships.

But Harvard was Division I.

MIT was Division III.

My parents loved MIT.

They loved the program.

But for me,
I was dead set on Harvard.

I gotta compete
against the best

because it was Division I.

- Lin goes to traffic.

Wow.

[cheering]

- A pass around.
A pass to Lin.

He rises, throws it down!

[upbeat music]

♪ ♪

- The pre-draft process
was so frustrating for me.

My agent was like,
"You gotta be prepared.

You're not gonna get drafted."

But in my heart,

the reason why
I had so much hope

was because I did
those workouts.

I played in front
of those people

and I competed against
those point guards,

and I knew I killed it.

It always just felt like
they had their mind made

without watching
what was going on.

What they would say on paper

was just what you would
probably say about any Asian.

And surprise, surprise,

I didn't get drafted.

The amazing thing about
the owner of the Warriors,

Joe Lacob, was,
he just bought the team.

And he grew up
watching me play

because I always played
against his son.

He made a gutsy decision

and was just like,
"We're signing this guy."

And he signed me
even when the general manager

and the head coach didn't even
want me on that team.

But my stint with the Warriors,

man, as quick as it started,

that's how fast it ended.

I got sent
to the D-League three times,

and then I got cut.

I get picked up
by the Rockets.

I go there, I'm
the sixth-string point guard.

Can't even get reps in
during practice.

Cut again.

Then I'm taking a nap at home
while I'm on the waiver wire,

and my agent calls,
and he's like,

"The New York Knicks
picked you up."

And I'm like, "What?"

- Yeah,
it's funny how I met Jeremy.

I'm walking out
of my hotel room,

and I see this little Asian kid
walking, like, by me.

- Tyson's coming down
the hallway,

and I'm like, "Yo, Tyson!"

- I honestly thought he was
about to ask for a picture.

- "It's Jeremy."
He's like... "Cool."

- "Okay, how you doing,
Jeremy?"

I was like, "It's nice
to meet you, my man."

- He was so shocked and scared.

It was like, "Who let this guy
into our floor?

"Like, why do we have fans
on our floor?

This is, like,
a security breach."

- Come back the next day
for shootaround,

and I see him get on a bus.

I'm like,
"Yo, what's up, Jeremy?"

- So I just showed up the next
morning, put a jersey on.

I don't even know
if the team knew who I was,

but, hey, look,
I'm a New York Knick now.

[engine roaring]

♪ ♪

You know, I'm in New York City

on a non-guarantee
rookie salary.

I asked my brother
and sister-in-law.

I was like,
"Hey, can I just crash

on your couch for six weeks?"

- It was like sleeping
on your homey couch

and you don't know if you gonna
have a job tomorrow.

And you still gotta smile,

still gotta act like
you on the team,

still gotta promote the team,

still gotta come
to the meetings,

you know what I'm saying?

You still gotta get a ride
to practice

and you gotta be there early.

- I would be walking
into the arena,

and I'd be walking in
pretty early

because I was gonna get
some extra work in,

and Security would be like,
"Ay, show me your badge."

And I'm like,
"I don't have a badge."

He's like,
"You're not allowed to--

then you're not allowed
to enter from this entrance."

And I'm like, "No, no, no.
Like, I'm a player."

They're like, "What?
Show me your badge."

I'm like,
"I don't have a badge.

Players don't have badges."

- I'm like, "Dawg,
you ever played basketball

"against somebody
that's sleeping on the couch

and don't know when they gonna
see they family?"

Like,
playing against a desperate man

is totally different.

- I remember
after practice one day,

one of the assistant coaches
came up to me,

and he was like, "Hey, Jeremy.
Can I talk to you?

You know why you never play?"

And I'm like, "Why?"

And he's like,

"Because you play basketball
like--

"like a Japanese cartoon
character.

Like, you play like
you're in a video game."

And I'm like,
"What does that even mean?"

It doesn't feel like I belong.

And it doesn't feel like
I have a home,

and it doesn't feel like
people believe in me.

But that was what was really
hard about that time.

I mean,
there's nothing more symbolic

than sleeping on a couch
for six weeks.

- We had a ton of injuries.

I'm talking to coach,
and he's like,

"I mean, I don't know what
to do at this point."

"We're down players.
We're down--

I mean, I'm thinking about
throwing him out there."

"Jeremy?" He's like, "Yeah."

I'm thinking,
"He has lost his damn mind."

I loved Jeremy.
I loved him as a person,

but we out here trying to win.

And I had never seen Jeremy
play before at this point.

- My brother, you know,
he's like, "Ay, man,

"my friends are coming in town.

Um, and they need the couch."

And they're like,
"Can you find a place

to stay for a night or two?"

The only person
I was comfortable asking

to crash a night with
was Landry.

And Landry was like, "Yeah,
of course you can crash."

He's like, "Come on over,
but I gotta warn you,

the couch is small."
I was like, "It's cool.

"I've been on small couches.

I'll figure it out."

And I'm walking
into his apartment,

and I'm 6'3" and this couch is,
like, four feet long.

And so I'm like, "How am I
gonna fit on this thing?"

And I got my head hanging off
one end.

I'm already in the fetal
position, curled up.

I got my legs hanging off
the other end and I'm like,

"This is gonna be the worst
night's sleep ever."

And I woke up
the next morning,

and he's like, "Man,
hope you slept all right."

I was like, "It's all good.
Don't worry about it."

Like, at least I had a place
to stay.

And that was what it was
leading up

to that New Jersey Nets game.

[cheers and applause]

- The New York Knicks get set

to take on
the New Jersey Nets.

- And I'm on the phone with
my agent, Roger Montgomery,

and Roger's telling me,
he's like,

"If you don't play well,

this is your last game
in the NBA."

He said,
"Promise me this one thing:

"No matter what you do tonight,

you gotta play
Jeremy Lin basketball."

- "Rog," I said,
"You're right.

"Like, I gotta do it.

"No matter what happens
tonight,

"if I touch that floor,

"it's gotta be Jeremy Lin
basketball all the way through.

"And the result is the result.

Like, whatever happens,
happens."

- And then they finally turned.

"J-Lin, get in there."

[tense music]

- And then it starts.

[rhythmic percussive music]

♪ ♪

When they subbed J-Lin in,

he was looking people dead
in they eye.

You talking 'bout somebody
that's coming from

"I don't know if I'll be
on the team tomorrow.

But, for tonight, fuck you."

- My hopes
was that he could just score.

But then I saw that he started
to be able to have

a feel for the game

and he started
to make some plays.

- Jeremy Lin drives
and finishes!

- Jeremy Lin!
- Nice play from Lin.

- Jeremy Lin goes off.

He goes off.

- This kid came out of nowhere

and started ballin'
like for real.

- That Nets game,
that first game of Linsanity.

When he lobs it up
to Tyson Chandler,

he throws it down
and then knocks that ball...

[laughing] With his head.

- I was like,
"Oh, this is something

that we can work with."

- Splits the defense again.

Gets to the rim, pops it in!

- I made an and-one,

and when I just wound up
and I screamed

and I let out
that emotion, like,

it felt like I was letting out
that year and a half

of, like, doubt.

Next thing you know,
we win the game.

And I look up, and I'm like,
"I have 25 points.

How the hell did that happen?"

- Lin!
[cheers and applause]

- I didn't even catch it live.

I was watching SportsCenter.

And it was this, like,
"Oh, cool.

What a lucky break."

- And I remember getting
to the shower,

and I didn't know if, like,
it was water from the shower

or tears from my eyes.

And I was like,
"They can't cut me now.

They can't cut me now.
They can't cut me now."

- Then the second game.

Oh, he scores even more.

Oh, this is funny.

- You start in New Jersey.

You to go Utah, right?

You go to Washington.

- The big dick energy
that he had was just like,

"Oh, this is incredible."

Isolations, ball hogging,

going into the lane,
penetrating,

finishing with both hands,

dunking.

- I didn't know he could dunk.

- He crosses up John Wall

and he sledgehammers it in.

- I remember a teammate said,
"Yo, I can't believe

"J-Lin just went in
and dunked it.

Chan, you kind of got up."

- You don't think no Asian kid
that's this size

is going to be dunking.

It's stereotypical,

but it's what
we're all thinking.

- After the John Wall game
happened, I made a video.

He frickin' crossed and smashed
on John Wall today.

Step your game up.
You cannot get dunked on

by a guy who took Calculus BC.

- The same way the world
was caught by surprise,

us on the same team as him
was caught by surprise.

- Jeremy Lin, the New York
Knicks point guard

that's caught the NBA world
by storm.

- Jeremy Lin is fantastic.

- Lin, we gonna win.

1-7, we going to heaven.
That's it.

- Lin's #17 jersey sold out
within 48 hours

of going on sale
at Madison Square Garden.

- Husband, mom, sister, dad,

and then he's working
on the kids' ones

for my nephews. [laughs]

- I was getting random people
calling me,

asking me
for a Jeremy Lin autograph.

I'm playing with Melo.

I'm playing with Amar'e.

I don't feel like
I'm no just joke myself.

And like,
y'all calling for Jeremy?

- It's a lot right now,

but I think I'm getting used
to it a little more.

- And suddenly,
it's Madison Square Garden.

It's his first real home game.

And of course,
he's playing the Lakers.

- Kobe Bryant
and the Los Angeles Lakers

are coming to town.
You know,

they just won
two championships.

- We saw Jeremy ball
against the Jazz.

We saw him ball
against the Nets.

But the Lakers?

I didn't know if it was gonna
be the same kind of game.

- A sell-out crowd
at Madison Square Garden

and many
to see the "Cinderella" story

of Jeremy Lin.

- The pregame was like being
at a big fight in Vegas.

- That ticket is hot!

That is the hottest ticket

since the Knicks were
in the Conference Finals

in the year 2000.

- It was the crackling energy
of something might happen.

But you don't think
that Jeremy Lin's

gonna be the guy to knock out
Kobe and the Lakers.

- This is peak Lakers.

They still had Metta.

They still had Pau.

They still had Kobe.

- The Lakers came in
with the idea

that "Nah, like,
not on our watch.

We gonna end this fairy tale,
and we gonna end it tonight."

- Kobe in an interview gave Lin
some gas and said some shit.

- Are you surprised
at the production

that Lin's had over
the past week?

- I don't even know
what he's done.

Like, I don't--I have no idea

what you guys
are talking about.

- Would you consider
guarding him

if he's having one
of those games?

- Jesus Christ.
- [laughs]

- I'm on the way to the game,

and I see what Kobe said
about me,

and I'm like, "Tonight,

I'm just gonna be
hella aggressive."

Like, no matter what happens,
50/50, like,

if I have any space, like,
and I don't know what to do,

I'm shooting it.

- Though you're J-Lin
and we're rooting for you...

[laughs] That's Kobe Bryant.

- It's MJ, Kobe, and Bron.

Anytime you have a opportunity
to play against these guys,

it's a chance
to measure yourself.

- He the closest thing
to Jordan.

Like, if you hate him,
it's because he actually

hits the shots Jordan hits
and did the hand,

and it pissed you off
'cause you couldn't do it.

Tonight, we get
to look the Mamba in the eye.

- Jeremy Lin, what do you make
of the splash

that he's made with the Knicks?
- I mean, it's great.

It is the worst job
of talent evaluation

that I've ever seen in my life
if this kid is this good.

When you get that opportunity,
you have to kick the door in.

Now he's not only kicked it
in.

He blew it up.

- But this, without question,

the toughest test
for Jeremy Lin.

- Jeremy,
in that boxing analogy,

comes out of his corner,
and he's swinging.

- Lin shot.

[cheers and applause]

- Jeremy has nine, ten points
in the first three minutes,

and the Garden
is going apeshit!

- I let my first few fly
on me.

I have, like, four
or five field goal attempts

within the first, like,
couple minutes.

And I get hot.

Okay, here we go.

It's gonna be a long night
for them.

- Lin drives in
and lays it in!

- I just remember
how fast he was moving.

He's going to the rim,

and he's attacking
the rim hard.

- This guy was driving.

He was going past Kobe.

- Jeremy just stepped up
to every moment,

and he didn't back down.

He hitting and-ones.
He's screaming.

He pumpin' his fists
at the crowd.

Like, he's living
in the moment.

- Never relenting,
taking fallaway jumpers.

Confident stuff that a kid
who had never played

on this kind of a stage
should have.

- This kid was like a video
game 'cause he's not supposed

to be doing these things
that he's doing.

- You know the video game
where you, like--

a player's, like, tired,
and then you put somebody else

in that's not tired,
and you like,

"Oh, man, you don't even run
that fast.

Like, what?"

Like, I just remember seeing
J-Lin do that,

and I'm like,
"I ain't never been part

of no video game experience."

- He did that crazy, like,
spin move against Derek Fisher

and hit that perfect layup.

- D. Fisher's a tough guard
too.

- Lin likes the open floor.

Spinning, puts it up,
and backs it in!

- And I'm like,
"That's something new."

- On the one hand, I'm like,
"Dude, I'm a frickin' problem.

Derek Fisher cannot guard me."

But on the other hand,
I'm like,

"Yo, what just happened?"

It felt like
an out-of-body experience.

I never did that move
before that.

[buzzer blares]

- And that will end
the first half.

Jeremy Lin was superb.

- Man!
- I like his game.

- And he got that Garden
buzzin' right now

with that 360 move.

Whoo.
- And right after that...

- So at a halftime,
you figure, like,

okay,
regression to the mean comes.

Because it's the Lakers.
It's Kobe, right?

These are guys
who have survived runs before.

They've won championships.

- I think our whole team knew

in the second half
it was gonna be Kobe time.

- Bryant spinning.
Difficult shot...

[laughs] For some.
- Yeah.

- Kobe just started to get hot

and hit a lot of tough midrange
jumpers in that third quarter.

And we could see
our lead dwindle,

and dwindle, and dwindle.

- But what's crazy about what
happens in the second half,

Jeremy Lin
just keeps attacking.

- I'm watching guys get
physical with him

and I'm waiting for him
to back down

or his moment to be over.

- But Jeremy
just kept making shots.

- Jeremy was cooking, okay?

He was cooking motherfuckers.

- He caught the ball
about 28 feet out,

and he drilled it
on Pau Gasol.

It was unbelievable.

- Y'all wanna see
a little Manu step?

Y'all want the reverse finish?

Y'all want the inside finish?

Y'all want the hook finish?

He was giving y'all floaters.

Man.

- It was just surreal.

Is this the other plot
of "Space Jam"?

Like, whose superpowers
did Jeremy Lin steal

to become the best basketball
player in the world?

- My husband and I were
in my living room behind me

standing up the entire time.

And the guy
just couldn't miss.

- We were like, "Oh!"
Like, I wanted to run around.

I might have taken a few laps.

I started tearing up.

- And this is the part

that still gives me
goose bumps.

He knew what stage he was on.

He knew that the cameras
were all there.

He knew
that he had this chance

to say something
that would change this

from "Wow, cool little fluke"

to "This is going
to be a legend

that parents tell their kids
one day."

- All the hype's around you

'cause you're "Jeremy Lin"
right now,

and everybody's like,
"I'ma be the one to stop him."

And he gave all y'all
what y'all wanted to see.

- There was a shot that I hit
that I knew was a dagger.

Tyson hits the ball back
and then Shump ends up with it

and he swings it to me
in a corner.

And I got all the space
in the world.

And as I shoot it, I'm like,
"Oh, that feels amazing."

And it goes swish,
right through the net.

It felt like we were hovering
'cause that's how loud

and energetic it was,
and it was this magical moment.

I've never experienced
something like that

before or after.

- Linsanity continues here
at Madison Square Garden...

[buzzer blares]
As the undrafted point guard

from Harvard
electrifies MSG once again.

- Yo,
this dude scored 38 points!

- He made 38 points!

[laughing]
How is he doing that?

- 38 points
at Madison Square Garden.

Are you fucking kidding me?

- One of the more
incredible stories we've seen

in the NBA in quite some time.

- It just happened
against Kobe,

like, against Kobe Bryant.

And it was like this awe
and, like, magical moment

of like, "Man, like,
you really did that

"against, like,
one of the greatest

to ever play the game."

- For him to outscore Kobe--
rest in peace, Kobe--

but for him to outscore Kobe,

the leading scorer
in the league in the Garden,

like, that was crazy.

- I didn't believe it
till it was over

because I'm supposed
to be an impartial journalist.

But I get the box score,
and I say to myself,

"I'm going to keep
this box score."

Yeah, that's when I officially
was secure

that this had happened.

- And the fact that MSG,
but so much of this country,

was having that moment
for an Asian American player,

I just kept having to, like,
look away and look again.

Like, is this really happening?

And it wasn't just Asian people
who were talking about it.

Everybody was talking about it!

- There was a strain of weed
out in LA called "Linsanity OG"

that Rick Ross Instagrammed
himself picking up.

The Knicks did not have
the shirts to sell people.

Barack Obama
was praising Jeremy Lin

to his staff on Marine One.

- I've been
on the Jeremy Lin bandwagon--

- Are you taking credit
for Linsanity?

It kind of feels like
you are a little bit.

- I can't take credit for it.

I'm just saying
I was there early.

- When Jeremy's going through
this whole Linsanity moment,

he never changed from that kid
who was sleeping on the couch.

- He's like the calmest,
best energy to be around.

He doesn't have a bad bone
in his body.

He's gonna encourage us all
to pray

and go to church with him.

- The Lakers game,
that was wild.

But I'm trying
to do everything I can

to tune it out.

But when we got to Toronto,

that's when I knew.

[cheers and applause]

- What Jeremy Lin did at
the end of that Raptors game--

he has the ball,
and he has the opportunity

to pass the ball.

- Jeremy waves them off.

- And I remember I had to wave
'em off, like, multiple times

because they were like, "What,

you're not running
a pick and roll?"

And I'm like,
"No, like, get out the way."

- He takes the last shot.

- This is mine.

- This opportunity
might never come along again,

and so I'm just gonna say,
"Fuck it" and go.

- We could feel it.
He's not gonna miss this shot.

- Five, four...

- [inhales sharply]

- Lin puts it up!

[cheers and applause]

- And the crowd went crazy
in Toronto, on the road!

- He hit the game winner
in Toronto,

and the Toronto fans erupted
for him.

- We all know how rare it was,

and we all know what it took
for him to get there,

and that superseded the color
of your city's jersey.

Like, who cares about the color
of your clothing at this point?

Right? We're talking about
the color of his skin.

- All my friends kept saying
is like...

Do you know what that means?

"Can you believe
we have dignity?"

"Did you see
the way he did that?"

No, no, no, it's my game too.

I deserve to be here too.

It's not a mean thing.

It's not
a "I hate my teammates thing."

It's "What if I had
the same audacity

and confidence you had?"

- This is who I am.

This is what I prepared for.

And this is what
I'm capable of.

All you guys need
to do is watch and see.

- I remember after he hit
that shot,

I thought to myself,

"How many moments
in my own life

"did I pass up the ball
or hold myself small?

"How many times
did I turn in that assignment

"or not audition for that thing

"or not put my name
as number one on the sheet?

How many times
did I not wave someone off?"

That's what that moment meant
to me.

- That's not a thing
that Asian people get, man.

That's not how we're cast.

- Now, I think the spectrum
of masculinity is important.

I think Asian men don't have
to prove themselves

in that way,
but it's nice when you can see

and point to a reference
like Jeremy Lin

as, like, an example
of being able to be athletic,

right, and dominating a sport
like the NBA.

- Even when I'm on stage

and I look into the eyes
of my audience,

I see so many broken dreams.

They're like, "Wait a second.

"I don't have to work
at Deloitte?

Like,
I can be a stand-up comedian?"

It's just--it's this moment.

It broke the Matrix for us.

- I knew a little bit back then

why that shot was just bigger
than that shot in that game,

but now I understand it
even more so.

It was a heroic moment.

Like, it was a moment
that so many people

had not experienced,
but wanted to experience.

Hollywood, the world, like,

we didn't have
these heroic moments,

and it was always boxed
into the Asian stereotype.

But for it to happen that way,
on that platform, in that game,

against people
who didn't look like me,

in a game where people like me
don't really exist--

that's why, to this day,
this moment lives in the minds

and the hearts
of so many people,

because it was so much bigger
than basketball.

- If you had described
Linsanity before it happened

to someone,
I think everyone would be like,

"That's--that's not possible."

- It's the most impossible
thing

I think I have ever witnessed
in my life.

- It's so weird to revisit
this moment ten years later

because...

it's like the worst time
to be an Asian American.

And so it's really hard...

to only appreciate
what happened ten years ago

when you're reminded
of where we're at right now.

That's what's really hard.

[somber musical sting]

- The weekend of March 15th,

the first weekend of everyone
locking things down in 2020,

when the pandemic just started,

a white guy in a pickup truck
slowed down

when it was a green light
for him

and stopped right in front
of me just to flip me off.

And then I felt my face get hot

and my stomach getting queasy
because--

that was when I realized, like,
"Oh, shit.

Yeah, I've felt this before."

The feeling like
I'm about to get the hate

and the anger directed at me

for no reason other than just
walking around being Asian.

It gave me a sense
of what was to come.

- Hate crimes targeting Asian
Americans has skyrocketed.

- Suni Lee said she was
recently pepper sprayed.

- The suspect
lit a 79-year-old man on fire

at the Chinatown
Cultural Plaza.

- Police say
that Christina Yuna Lee

was stabbed more than 40 times
in the neck and torso.

- An Asian man who was
the victim of a hate crime

just died of his injuries.

- Asian man viciously kicked
to the ground.

- Communities on edge.

- Anybody see my--my--my skin.

- She said she doesn't want
people to see her skin color.

- For every Asian American
person

or anybody who comes
from any minority group,

you're immediately told

even though
your citizenship status

makes you a home jersey,

the moment you start putting
yourself out in society,

they tell you,
"No, no, no, no, no.

"You're an away jersey.

Where are you from?"

"Oh, I'm from Sacramento."

"No, no, no, no,
where are you from from?"

- This face is always read
as being alien,

a betrayer, a spy, weird.

- In times
of global catastrophe,

a scapegoat
can be pretty helpful.

- Sometimes I'll be walking
my daughter to school,

and I'll see different kids.

Young white kids,
white parents,

they'll walk
into school without a mask.

Every single Asian kid
is double masked

like they're in a goddamn
hazmat suit

because the room for error--
it's this thin.

God forbid...
- [sneezes]

- Your Asian son or daughter
coughs or sneezes,

and then all the kids
are like,

"Yo, you got that Wuhan?

You got that "Kung flu?"

- And so anti-Asian violence
coalesced

around all of those things

and, I think,
around a fundamental

underlying issue
with how people see Asians,

which is that...

you could take 'em.

They're not to be feared.

You wanna pick on somebody
that you could

probably go stuff
into a locker?

Pick on the Asian kid.
- [laughs]

- If all we see are stories

of Asian people
being submissive

and weak and being dominated
on TV and movies and in sports,

then of course that translates
into real world behavior.

- Six of the eight people
he's now accused of killing

are Asian women.

- There are a lot
of intense discussions here

about potential hate crimes.

- The shooting
in Atlanta, Georgia,

because Asian women
have been stereotyped

as being, you know,
these dragon ladies

or overly sexualized
and exoticized,

that incident
was just so horrifying,

but also galvanizing.

And the last few years,

I think,
have been a wake-up call

to so many of us
in the Asian community

that we have to speak up.

- Ten years later,

I'm excited to talk
about Jeremy Lin right now

because, I think,
beyond basketball,

it's important for us
to understand

that to be outstanding
as an Asian American,

to represent
who were are

beyond just stereotypes,
is that much more important.

Because it's that kind
of lack of familiarity

with us as humans
that causes people

to be willing
to fucking attack us.

- When I think back
on those moments of Linsanity,

everyone was talking about

this unknown
Asian American player.

I long to feel those moments

of just, like, pure joy
and unity.

It was really validating.

It was too short-lived,

but it did really open a door.

- The reason
why Jeremy matters

and why
we're talking about it is,

it represents possibility

and an expansive worldview
at the highest possible level.

If this is possible,
what else is possible?

[cheers and applause]

- The biggest thing
Linsanity brought was hope.

It inspired people,

and it showed that when
you chase your dreams,

good things can happen.

And I think
as we go into the reality

of where we are today
as a society,

we need to hold on to hope.

We need to believe
that things can be better

and we need to fight
for those things.

- Maybe
the most unifying aspect

of the Asian American
experience

is this desire to be included.

It's to be seen as American,

to be counted as one...

of you.

And what Jeremy Lin's story is

is the most visceral example
of...

getting to be a part of a world

that had never really had space
for you before.

- Out of that crisis,
or I should say this crisis,

because we're still in it,

something really extraordinary
happened,

which is that the Asian
American community

is unwilling to stand
on the sidelines anymore.

Like, we're all a bunch
of Jeremy Lins out there,

just going for it
and exercising our voices

and being unwilling
to just remain on the bench.

- Jeremy Lin showed
that he belonged,

and he gave
an entire generation the hope

that they can belong.

- I really want
the next generation to grow up

to not be ashamed
of being Asian,

to be proud of your culture,
your upbringing,

your parents, your appearance,
your talents, your personality.

I want them to be proud
to be themselves

and to have a equal
and an fair chance

to be their fullest self,

to not have to deal
with everything

that the previous generations
had to deal with.

- I love the fact

that we get an Asian American
Marvel hero now.

That's awesome. I love that.

You could also just
queue up YouTube

and watch what Jeremy Lin did
to the Lakers in 2012.

- We're talking about it
like it's a myth or something.

We have tape, man!
It happened.

You don't need
to tell them anything.

Just show 'em the tape.

Play the tape.

- Lin gets inside! Oh!

Lin puts up the two-pointer,
puts it in!

[cheers and applause]

Drives and finishes!

[upbeat music]

♪ ♪

[cheers and applause]
- Yeah! Yeah!

♪ ♪

- Lin for three!

[cheers and applause]

♪ ♪

[bright tone]