Palo Alto's Jeremy Lin Has Been Called 'Coronavirus' During Game

PALO ALTO, CA — Jeremy Lin, the former Palo Alto High School star who has spent nine years in the NBA, revealed that he was the target of racism during a game when he was called "coronavirus" on the court.

In a lengthy Instagram post on Thursday, Lin — currently playing for the Santa Cruz Warriors in the G-League — called out treatment of Asian Americans and noted that even his fame "didn't protect me from being called 'coronavirus' on the court."

"Something is changing in this generation of Asian Americans," Lin wrote. "We are tired of being told that we don't experience racism, we are tired of being told to keep our heads down and not make trouble."

Since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, there has been a rise in hate crimes targeting Asians, spewed by rhetoric from former President Donald Trump and others who have repeatedly referred to the coronavirus as the "China virus."

Last March, Lin tweeted at Trump directly, claiming that he was "empowering" racism.

Locally, several documented attacks against Asian elders in the Bay Area in recent weeks have raised alarm.

The Stop AAPI Hate organization reported over 2,800 incidents of anti-Asian hate in the country since the pandemic began, with over half occurring in California. In the Bay Area, elderly Asians account for over 8 percent of the victims.

"These recent incidents are stark reminders that urgent action must be taken to protect our AAPI community from hate, discrimination and violence," the organization's co-founders said in a news release earlier this month. "It is up to all of us — businesses, the government, and community partners — to come together and immediately support victims and families affected by these incidents, and work together to create long-lasting solutions that empower our communities with resources, support and education."

Lin, who graduated from Palo Alto High School in 2006, has been active on social media over the past year, using his platform to address an issue that he believes has been overlooked.

"We are tired of Asian American kids growing up and being asked where they're REALLY from, of having our eyes mocked, of being objectified as exotic or being told we're inherently unattractive," Lin wrote on Instagram. "We are tired of the stereotypes in Hollywood affecting our psyche and limiting who we think we can be. We are tired of being invisible, of being mistaken for our colleague or told our struggles aren't as real."