Is the league racist against Lin?

[[Q]]

Ok, not racist per se, but unfairly getting no-calls? I did tend to notice him getting hacked quite a bit after him signing with Houston the year after the Linsanity craze after remembering him getting to the line quite often during the initial Linsanity run.
Here's the video that everyone's been talking about:

phpBB [video]

The NBA responded, and unfortunately since this video was made by a 48 year old stay-at-home mom, it didn't really address the bigger issue of non-calls and common fouls and focused on flagrant fouls. That made it really easy for the league to dismiss with "facts" over the last 3 seasons, which does not include his Knick days. The big stat on ESPN the other day was the he had over 800+ fouls called for him and none of them have been flagrant.
During his Linsanity run (when you could argue that refs had been calling fouls at an unbiased, "normal" rate) he averaged 6.3 FTAs per game. He has not topped 3.7 FTAs since then. He also has not dominated the ball as he has had since then, but it's hard to quantify the non-calls he's been getting because they led to unnecessary turnovers as well as forced shots and missed shots on what would normally be Ft attempts.

Now that the video has gone viral with over a million views, the league has taken notice and Jeremy got a few fair calls today, which he may or may not have already gotten if the video weren't made.

[Brave Sir Rubin]

No.

[Andrew]

It's probably more a case of the officials being pretty inconsistent with flagrant fouls (among other calls) to begin with, the tendency to favour stars, and Jeremy Lin's stock as a league star falling following the knee injury that put an abrupt end to Linsanity. There are probably examples of this happening with other players, but Linsanity drew attention to Lin, so his situation is perhaps more noticeable.

A few interesting numbers noted here: http://espn.go.com/video/clip?id=espn:15198725

Kevin Durant and Pau Gasol have actually drawn more fouls without a flagrant being called, with Durant leading Lin 981-813...and Durant is obviously a marquee star. Michael Carter-Williams isn't far behind Lin, either, and even Kyrie Irving is in the conversation. However, Lin does have more drives than Durant and Gasol by a significant margin, so it's definitely weird that he hasn't drawn at least one flagrant foul...especially given some of the plays spotlighted in that video. At the same time, it's strange that a big name player in Durant has over 900 drives during that same span, has probably suffered some hard hits of his own, and hasn't drawn a flagrant call either.

First Take discussion:

phpBB [video]

So yeah, I'll give the league the benefit of the doubt here, and say that it doesn't have anything to do with racism, racial bias, or anything like that. It may not even have anything to do with Lin specifically/personally, but it does spotlight how inconsistent the league is with its officiating. Obviously, this also invites talk about toughness and "back in the day" grumbling, but the point is, no matter how the league is going to handle "excessive contact", it needs to be done consistently.

[NovU]

2 things about Lin.

1) He is deceptively quick and strong that he's good at creating contact, which result in him being sent to the line more frequently than average players.
2) He is NOT going to get superstar calls since he's NOT.

He still does get good amount of calls because of his playing style which is evident as he goes to the line often. As for hard flagrant fouls, it's on players. The refs suck at distinguishing between flagrant and non anyways. And probably Lin's reputation doesn't help either. If he was a thug like Wade, you probably be afraid to hard foul him as players expect retaliation served back on cold dish. Last thing you should also consider is that Lin's mentally strong and doesn't complain neither whine as much. He'll suck it up and play instead of being a cry baby.

What's racist was Lakers' dealing with Lin as Lin was a sacrifice for tanking Lakers and Kobe's near retirement partay. This season, he had to prove again he belonged to this league and indeed he did. Good decision by Rich Cho to sign him, nearly the best bang for the buck deal from all 2015 offseason signings. This offseason, not only players are more expensive but PGs are scarce.

[Sauru]

2) He is NOT going to get superstar calls since he's NOT.

this should not be a thing especially when we are talking about flagrant fouls

never gonna happen i know but i would love to see the game be called as everyone being equal

[[Q]]

Durant and harden get a shit ton of free throws and foul calls on those cheap swing through moves.

I don't truly believe it's a race thing, as that was more of a joke, but I think it's more of an attitude of annoyance with the whole linsanity thing. Maybe refs were "evening the score" against a player who had success that they felt was manufactured/overhyped/undeserved?

[koberulz]

If it were racism, there wouldn't be a difference between the Linsanity run and now. He was just as Asian back then.

So whether something is going on or not, I find it hard to believe race is that big a factor.

[NovU]

Maybe refs were "evening the score" against a player who had success that they felt was manufactured/overhyped/undeserved?

Those were some hard fouls in the vid but it's not too uncommon imho. But could it be that Lin has a dedicated fan base for a 3rd tier player, he gets exposure unlike others? Like, I don't think someone would make such kind of vid for Alec Burks though Paul Pierce a proven dickwad. Burks also is one of the guards that leads the league in getting to the line.

Like I said, Lin's one of the best point guards in this league in terms of getting to the line. His game invites a lot of contact. So perhaps that's also part of reason he often gets out of control wacking.

Point Guards - FTr (# of Freethrow Attempt PER FG Attempt)
1) Chalmers
2) Rubio
3) Sessions
4) Lowry
5) Lin

[Andrew]

In addition to him not getting the superstar treatment, it could be that he doesn't do a good enough job of embellishing contact when it happens. That, combined with his aggressive style of play and willingness to put his body on the line, is probably the main reason for the lack of flagrant calls, which as I said tend to be called inconsistently in the first place.

I think the video brings a problem with officiating to light, but I don't think it's evidence of a directive/vendetta/whatever against Lin himself. That said, I'd like to think that it will effect change, not only for him, but for all players in the league, resulting in more balanced, consistent, and fair officiating.

[shadowgrin]

Yes.

That's why props to Rich Cho for taking care of his fellow azn by resurrecting Lin's career in Charlotte.

[mp3]

The same could be said about Melo when he's playing bully ball, he could get to the line more if he flopped like Harden or Chris Paul

[Jeffx]

The same could be said about Melo when he's playing bully ball, he could get to the line more if he flopped like Harden or Chris Paul

You talk about a star player not getting any calls, it's Carmelo!

[big-shot-ROB]

The flagrant fouls showed in the video are no where near close to the fouls that Lin recieved. Lin wasn't getting completly shoved from the back as the videos of examples of flagrant fouls.

[benji]

During his Linsanity run (when you could argue that refs had been calling fouls at an unbiased, "normal" rate) he averaged 6.3 FTAs per game. He has not topped 3.7 FTAs since then. He also has not dominated the ball as he has had since then, but it's hard to quantify the non-calls he's been getting because they led to unnecessary turnovers as well as forced shots and missed shots on what would normally be Ft attempts.

2010-11: .347
2011-12: .478
2012-13: .307
2013-14: .400
2014-15: .410
2015-16: .401
Career: .385

Regarding shooting and turnovers:
2010-11: .458, 17.8
2011-12: .552, 21.4
2012-13: .538, 18.8
2013-14: .572, 18.4
2014-15: .539, 17.7
2015-16: .534, 14.9
Career: .544, 18.0

I'm going to suggest his 35 game stint with the Knicks is an outlier rather than the norm.