The web, the press and the fans: all crazy about Jeremy Lin, the rising star of NBA basketball with the number 17 jersey of the New York Knicks. Crazy for his plays, for his history (a typical American tale of talent that overcomes adversity by exploding as soon as he is given a chance), and for his origins: he is the first player of Chinese origin - Taiwanese, to be precise – but with a genuine US passport (born in California) to tread the parquet of the most important basketball championship in the world.
All of this so far was happening only from New York to San Francisco. That is, in the United States, where the boy, the son of a Silicon Valley engineer, was born, studied (graduated from Harvard) and grew up playing basketball. But now the wave of enthusiasm and curiosity has reached Europe and the whole planet like wildfire, fascinated by this 23-year-old who has shocked the NBA in less than a week. Yes, but on the other side of the world, in the place of his origins, what do they think? The very question was asked Financial Times, an English financial newspaper, not exactly accustomed to following overseas sporting events. “In China, Lin's Twitter page has surpassed one million fans, but local media are still struggling to celebrate it. The problem is not only their proverbial slowness, but the boy's Taiwanese background and his Christian faith".
And here is where the case, as well as sporting and - above all - media and commercial, also becomes political. Yes, because in communist China, linked to the values of Confucianism, Taoism and Buddhism, and which above all does not recognize the State of Taiwan (improperly defined as the Republic of China to distinguish it from the People's Republic of China), Jeremy Lin just can't be considered like the prodigal son who conquers the USA and exports basketball made in China. And indeed, censorship takes place.
Wednesday morning – writes the Financial Times again – the sports channel of the national broadcaster China Central Television (CCTV) proposed the delayed Champions League football instead of giving space to yet another superb performance (live in that time slot) by "Yellow mamba" Lin, author of 27 points and the decisive three-pointer in the Knicks' victory over Sacramento.
From there it took off protest of millions of fans on various forums and social networks: why this blackout? Maybe because the flags of Taiwan waved by his fans appear? Surely there is some truth, the Beijing government rejects that flag, which it considers a symbol of secession and a further reason for tension with the United States, since the US Congress formally pledged to defend the island (also called Formosa) in the event of a Chinese military attack. In this case, however, there is something else as well, as the FT itself points out in recalling that last month CCTV itself did not censor the Taiwanese elections, making the contested flag appear regularly on television.
In this case, there's more. On Jeremy Lin there is the long shadow (very long: 35 cm difference between the two) of the former NBA star – real Chinese, he – Yao Ming, who retired from competitive activity two years ago. The legendary image of him, he who was the perfect product of Made in China and the regime's propaganda, is about to be replaced too soon by this little boy who has very little Chinese, if not his origins. There is also an outstanding score between the two, given that Yao Ming, in addition to being the head of a government consultancy body in Shanghai, is also the owner of the local basketball team, and had invited Lin to play in his franchise before the explosion in New York. The refusal (sacrosanct, given the results) was considered an affront: lese majesty.
And then, the religious question, which just can't go down in Beijing, locked up in its atheistic communism and which recognizes only a few cults. The boy, then, also puts his own: at every end of the game in the interviews he blatantly declares his love for God, thanking him for what he is giving him. Way too much. And here it is, again, the censorship. Also this time discovered by the Financial Times, which recounts: "A young New Yorker, interviewed on TV about Lin, replied in front of the cameras: 'I like him a lot because he always praises his team and God". The translation of the subtitles on Chinese TV: "I like it a lot because he always praises the team". Gone God.
What about Taiwan instead? At least there, Lin-mania exploded without hesitation. The island's media already call it "Taiwan Pride", a recognition previously attributed only to baseball champion Wang Chien-ming and Yanni Tseng, the strongest golfer in the world.
In the meantime, one thing is certain. Jeremy Lin is the most lightning-fast case of transition from anonymity to celebrity: within a week he went from complete unknown to the most talked about sportsman in the world.
