Asian men can jump

Still, it is hard not to wonder if the places from which the Chuas and Lins emigrated played a factor in their parenting styles. The elder Chuas came from a rich Chinese enclave in the Philippines. Faced with a hostile native population, they circled the wagons and emphasized tradition. The Lins, on the other hand, came from Taiwan, where “Chinese-ness” now includes many Western notions, especially among the educated. In Taiwan, for example, there is an alternative track for college applications. Students can apply via the standard track, emphasizing grades and scores, but they can also apply via a track emphasizing their special gifts or contributions.

Taiwan is not so Westernized that Gie-Ming Lin himself was allowed to pursue basketball when he came to the United States and fell in love with the game; he went into computer engineering instead. But did his Taiwanese upbringing affect his own parenting style and that, too, of his Taiwanese-born wife? She was apparently a bit slower to embrace Jeremy’s path. By the time he was in college, though, she, too, was in the stands rooting with her “Jeremy Lin Show” T-shirt on.

In any case, I salute them both today. Who knows what will happen now that athletic Asian-American kids can say, “Look at Jeremy Lin!”? And other people, beholding Jeremy Lin, might come to better appreciate how complex Asian culture truly is — how malleable, too, and how poised to enrich America in yet more surprising ways. Like everyone, I have been riveted by the plays — those plays! But when I close my eyes, it’s the fact of the team’s playing more as a team that stays with me. And if I call up an image, it’s of Jeremy and his parents, up at Hamilton College on his day off, rooting for one of his brothers, also a basketball player; or else of the couch on which Jeremy’s been sleeping. That, as is well known, is his other brother’s couch — a couch that reminds me of my brother Bob’s couch, on which my kids have spent many a night. Are these not good things for America to see — things from which we can all learn? Just at a time when China seems to spell threat, we have the Lins to remind us that China spells gifts, too.