TTNN wrote:https://jlinforum.wordpress.com/2016/05/02/the-stereotypical-subliminal-perception-of-jeremy-lin/This is a super nice article about Lin, about people's subliminal perception of him. It is exactly how I feel that people always use a different standard on him, and would never give him credit, and always consider him have not proved himself.
I have seen people blame him cost the game of G6, but I have seen nobody pin any player down on G1, G2 and G7. Yes, all other players got a pass, even they got eaten in the defensive end, even they clucked a lot more shots, no, other players only carried the team, they never cost a game.
But to Lin, it is totally different, his missed shot always cost a game, his TO always changed the tide, his fouls always momentum changer.
I don't think that's hater, but that is so strong subliminal double standard, and yet a lot people don't realize they possess.
Blatantly higher standards for Lin, that are never good enough, might be part of the equation for people who have serious anti-Jeremy Lin/Asian folk bias, but I think for most normal folks, the specter of Linsanity blooming again is actually more of a driving factor than subliminal racism (in terms of how people gauge Lin's play).
I'd break it down like this.
You have to believe in someone's higher potential, for it to even be a possibility to be disappointed in them.For example, I really like Marvin Williams. I think he was probably the 3rd or 4th most important player on this team this year--but at the end of the day--I am not overly disappointed in his performance in the Heat series, because I saw that he thrived as spot-up shooter during the regular season, and since the Heat took that away, why should I expect him to be capable of playing beyond his means if they took his 3-ball away?
When Courtney Lee didn't play well because he was missing all of his midrange J's in several games--I was not disappointed in him either. Why should I be, when Courtney only has midrange pull-ups and spot-up 3s? He's never been anything other than "super-solid", so I can't expect him to play behind his means either. He doesn't have the skill-set to do that.
So even when these guys like Marv and Courtney (who are very solid NBA players) don't play well, I instinctively won't get as much heat to them, and I don't think the common NBA fan will either--because their ceilings aren't usually game-changers.
But Jeremy Lin is different for most casual fans. That guy is known as the author of Linsanity--and not only that--he just had 3 tremendous performances which invoked the image of those days to some lesser degree. Yes, it wasn't Linsanity itself--but still--it invoked the image of it.
So now some people are pumped--they want another great Lin performance--they're definitely not expecting some great Courtney Lee performance or some Marvin Williams performance. They want a Lin performance. And when they get a stinker--they're going to be extremely disappointed--focusing on how much Jeremy sucked that night.
Is that fair? Well, it comes with the territory when great things can be expected of you. If you get pumped up from three wins--you're going to pump yourself up for the fourth one--and when it bails on you... You're getting wrecked in salt mines.
But that right there--that is the Jeremy Lin paradox itself--because to a certain degree; Jeremy Lin was never supposed to happen. Y'all know the story. Undrafted, cut three times, New York, blah blah blah.
But think about it this way. So Lin blew up once upon a time ago in New York--and when he cooled down--the natural instinct was to call him a fluke. But then he plays well again during certain stretches, and the hype slowly grumbles up again. But wait--how can a guy who is regularly called a fluke--also simultaneously garner the genuine hype and expectation to deliver a great performance...if he's a fluke? That's the Jeremy Lin paradox; the looming genuine expectation of hype, while also bracing for the event that if the hype doesn't occur--you can easily say it was all a dream--but hey, if it does occur--GET HYPE!
So why does this even exist?
Human nature, the history of Linsanity, Jeremy's an Asian dude, etc. It's a mix of things--but I think deep inside--most people just want to believe in Jeremy more. He's likeable--it's fun to watch when he's on--you want to root for him. After the high of Linsanity, some people will always have a spot inside of them where they simultaneously expect more out of him, yet are also quick to pull the trigger on the "fluke button" when things go awry. And that again--is the Jeremy Lin Paradox--it is how he can be the most criticized 2 million dollar player in the league.
