The G League is investigating a claim by Jeremy Lin, who he said was called ‘Coronavirus’ during a game, a League official informed ESPN’s Marc Spears on Friday.
In a Facebook post Thursday, Lin, the former NBA warden who now plays for the Santa Cruz Warriors in the G League, spoke about the racism that the Asian-American community continues to face and gave examples he says he has had.
“As a nine-year NBA veteran, I don’t protect myself from being labeled ‘coronavirus’ by the court,” he wrote.
Lin did not specify when it was called. He is currently competing in the G-League bubble in Orlando, Florida, as a member of Santa Cruz, the Warriors affiliate.
On Friday night, Warriors coach Steve Kerr said he would like the NBA to investigate Lin’s allegation.
“I just saw the Facebook post,” Kerr said. “It’s really powerful. I applaud Jeremy for his words and reiterate his feelings regarding racism against the Asian-American community. It’s been so ridiculous and clearly spawned by so many people, including our former president (Donald Trump), in what It refers to the coronavirus that originated in China. It’s shocking. I don’t know, I can’t understand anything about it, but I can’t understand racism in general. “
Lin became the first American-born NBA player of Chinese or Taiwanese descent when he stormed with the Golden State Warriors during the 2010-11 season. He was best known for a scoring streak that led to wins with the New York Knicks during the 2011-12 season that was dubbed as ‘Linsanity’. In total, the former Harvard star averaged 11.6 points and 4.3 assists in 480 NBA games from 2010 to 2019.
Before playing in the G League this season, he played for the Chinese Basketball Association.
When asked specifically if he would like to see an investigation into Lin’s claim, Kerr was quick to respond Friday.
“Oh yes, of course,” he said. “As I said, I saw the post, the reference was a bit vague so I think it would be nice to know what happened.”