GRACE: Awesome.
I'm Grace.
I just want to say thank
you so much for coming.
We are so honored that
you guys are joining us.
For obvious reasons,
we're really excited.
I just wanted to
introduce myself.
I am part of a Google
Christian Fellowship here.
And this is actually
the very first time
we are ever co-hosting an event
with the Asian Google Network,
which Tiffany is a part of.
TIFFANY SIU: Hi, everyone.
I'm Tiffany.
I'm chair for the
Asian Google Network.
Thank you so much for
joining us here today.
We're really excited.
I'm a product marketing manager
here on the Platforms Marketing
Team.
So before we get
started, I just wanted
to let you guys know we will
have time at the end for a Q&A.
So you guys are welcome
to ask your questions.
But just to be
respectful of time,
please don't ask to take selfies
or anything just so we can
have everyone ask questions.
We are running on a
really tight schedule.
So thank you so much for
your cooperation on this.
And so today interviewing
Jeremy, we have Marvin Chow.
Marvin is our VP
of Marketing here.
So let's give them both a hand.
[APPLAUSE]
MARVIN CHOW: Thanks so much.
Welcome, Jeremy.
We're really excited
to have you here
as a part of the Google
Christian Fellowship,
and our focus on empowering
faith for groups at Google,
and as well, as
Tiffany talked about,
the Asian Googler's Network.
And kicking off-- it's
going great so far--
kicking off our week-long
program about what does
it mean to be an
Asian-American and Pacific
Islander to really jump start
conversations around race
and stereotypes.
And I think a lot
of those things
are very near and dear to
you, so we'll get into that.
But welcome to Google.
It's great to have you
here for the first time.
I think we'll start off with
just a little bit of you
telling us about yourself.
You won the state championship
at Palo Alto High School.
You were named All-Ivy
first team at Harvard.
You played seven years
with the NBA with the Nets.
Tell us a little bit
about your journey
and what that's all been like
for you just as Jeremy Lin.
JEREMY LIN: I grew up right
down the street, so to get here
was like five minutes.
It was really convenient.
I just love being in the area.
I was trying to go to
Stanford, but they--
[LAUGHTER]
But they didn't recruit me.
So actually,
legitimately, I really
didn't want to go to
Harvard because I just
didn't hear good things
about the east coast.
[LAUGHTER]
I never-- I had--
MARVIN CHOW: You
live in Brooklyn now.
JEREMY LIN: Yeah.
I'm talking about
when I was like--
MARVIN CHOW: Back in the day.
JEREMY LIN: --you know, 17.
The winters were supposed
to be really daunting.
And there was no
In-N-Out Burger,
so I was really anti-east coast.
But obviously my journey
over the last 10 years
has brought me everywhere
across the world.
And I guess my
life experiences--
sometimes I feel like
I'm 28 inside of like a--
I don't want to offend
anybody-- but just like an older
person's--
[LAUGHTER]
--experience.
I just have seen a lot,
been through a lot.
And I feel like as I get older--
now I'm going into my
eighth year in the league--
I've become more
opinionated about stuff
because I've seen more
and become more educated
about certain things.
And so now I feel
like I have more
of a conviction and a passion
about what I want to speak on,
or what I feel should change,
or what is right, what is wrong.
And that's maybe why I've
signed up for something
like Talks at Google.
It's just a great
opportunity to do that.
MARVIN CHOW: That's great.
I mean, you talked, obviously,
very openly about this journey
you've been on, and
being more educated.
And part of that, as kind of--
very rare to see
an Asian-American
in sports in your
position and of influence.
Talk about some of the things,
the challenges you had,
the things you've
had to face in terms
of getting there along the way.
What are some of
those challenges?
JEREMY LIN: I would
say actually it's
probably a lot like college.
The hard part is getting there.
Once you get in, it
actually becomes a lot--
it becomes easier.
But the hard part for
me was really just,
at the end of the day
there's a million,
billion people
playing basketball,
so there's 450 spots.
And for an owner
or whatever to take
a chance on one
of their 15 spots,
you really have to wow them.
And it was hard for me to
make enough of an impression
where people would
want to take that risk,
especially because I didn't
look like everybody else.
So that was probably
the hardest part
was feeling like I
proved myself enough,
and then it not being enough.
And having to do that over and
over again until one person--
thank you, Joe Lacob--
was like I want to
give him a shot.
I think that was
probably the hardest
part about the whole thing.
And then once you get there,
once you get to that spot,
once you get in the NBA, it's
really just about consistency.
The people, your teammates, they
see it in practice every day
or whatever, and they start
to believe he's a player.
I think once you get
there, it becomes easier.
MARVIN CHOW: And so once you're
there, it kind of goes away
a little bit?
Is that more just in
the family of the team,
or do you still experience
it in the greater world,
obviously, when you go to games
or when you're out in public?
JEREMY LIN: Yeah.
I was speaking more just
like for my own team.
If I play well in
training camp, I
feel like I have their respect.
Across the league it
took a little bit longer.
But now that I'm going
into my eighth year,
I don't feel like I
really deal with as much
as what I used to deal with.
What I used to
deal with was like,
oh, we'd better not let
this Asian kid score on us--
[LAUGHTER]
--really is what it was like.
It was like, man, like, dude.
I remember I did
like a crossover
and scored a layup
against the Pistons.
And they were like,
oh, it's like,
you crossed up Tayshaun Prince.
But if I was black, then it
wouldn't matter, you know?
No one would talk about it.
It would just be
like, he scored.
But for me, because it was like,
dude, the Asian kid scored.
It's like, him.
So I felt like I had
a target on my back.
And then after Linsanity, I felt
like the target grew 30 times
where I felt like
people were really
excited to play against me.
They wanted to be the person
to outplay me by a lot.
I felt a lot of that.
And as I've gotten
older, I actually
built a lot of
relationships with people,
kind of word of mouth, too.
Without meeting
every NBA player,
I pretty much know at least two
or three things about every NBA
player, just word of mouth.
It's a small community--
450 of us.
And so I feel like through
that it's become a lot easier
now to be more accepted
within the NBA circle.
MARVIN CHOW: That's great.
So beyond obviously being
just an Asian-American,
you identify very publicly in
social media as a Christian.
You speak a lot about that.
So similarly, how do you deal
with stereotypes or things
like that about being
a Christian, or such
an outspoken Christian
in the mainstream?
JEREMY LIN: I think
for me there's
some things that I know
are so important to me
that I actually don't
care what people think.
I think that's probably the
best way to describe it.
I know what my
faith means to me.
And I know how many times I've
had my back against the wall
and there was
literally a miracle--
sometimes me playing well,
but sometimes a miracle
was running into
somebody, a random phone
call that somebody
had, or something
that happened outside
of my control,
or outside of my ability
to play basketball
that created an opportunity for
me to get to the next level,
get on this team.
And so I know that faith has
been such an integral part
of who I am, it would be crazy
for me to get to this point
and not talk about my faith.
And I don't really care too
much what everybody else thinks.
It's kind of like how I
talk about my family, too.
My family is so
near and dear to me,
I know what they
mean to me, I know
what they've done to help me.
The only thing is, family
isn't really controversial,
so you should talk
about your family.
But with faith,
sometimes that can be
sensitive for certain people.
But I just felt like I
had to share who I am.
I have to share how I got here.
And I want to stay
true to the path
that I felt like I
was meant to walk.
MARVIN CHOW: It just seems
like, for you, it fuels you.
Defining the stereotype, or
redefining-- whether it's
being Asian, being Christian.
Is it something that drives you?
Is it something
that's natural to you,
or do you have to really focus
on overcoming in that sense?
JEREMY LIN: I think it's
more than just personality.
I'm hyper-competitive,
and I love challenges,
and I love crazy dreams.
If you ever told me no
one's ever done something,
I'd be the type of person to
be like, yeah, let's do it.
I'm not talking about
drugs or something.
[LAUGHTER]
I'm talking about--
MARVIN CHOW: He's talking
Brooklyn Nets championship.
JEREMY LIN: Yeah.
I'm talking about
healthier stuff.
MARVIN CHOW: Exactly.
Christian stuff.
It's cool.
JEREMY LIN: Yeah.
MARVIN CHOW: We got it.
We got it.
It's good.
JEREMY LIN: So I feel
like it was natural.
Like, it's never been
done before, it makes
me want to do it even more.
MARVIN CHOW: Right.
So on that cleaner
stuff, when you
think about the stuff
that's never been done
and when you think
about just your journey,
talk about some times where--
obviously, you're a role
model to so many people.
Is there a memorable
time where you've
had such a visible or emotional
impact on another group
of people, a community, or
an individual person because
of your position that you
can maybe share about?
JEREMY LIN: I guess just one of
the crazy things that I never
really thought would
happen is just--
a lot of people reach out where
they're in a situation in life
where they're ill.
They're sick, and they really
wanted to meet me or something
like that.
Actually, those experiences are
really humbling and sobering.
I posted a lot about
this girl named Ava
last year when she passed.
But I had this relationship
with her for a while.
And she was the most
adorable little girl,
and I got to meet her family.
And I keep in touch
with her family.
Every time we go
to play the Bulls,
I make sure to
catch up with them,
bring into the game and stuff.
But I think those
experiences where
on a day-to-day when
a fan wants a picture,
it really doesn't
feel real to me.
It feels like I'm a zoo animal.
You ever feel like, if you're
in the zoo, the monkey you see
or the panda?
It's like all these people
come by and then they leave.
They're just like, whatever.
They get what they
want and they leave.
That's kind of how I
feel, like, a fan to--
if I were to be real, not to
say that I don't appreciate it,
but after a while it
actually feels like that.
But with these interactions
where she was only five, six.
When I met her, she was five.
So there's no awe,
there's no any of that.
It's just like a pure,
human-to-human interaction.
And those interactions,
to me, are probably
the most powerful ones.
MARVIN CHOW: It's
just very genuine.
JEREMY LIN: Yeah.
MARVIN CHOW: That makes sense.
Yeah, I think we feel
like zoo animals,
too, working at Google, with
the amount of tourists coming
on campus and just looking at.
It like, it's an office.
Go away.
I'm just kidding.
So talking about role
models, obviously you've
broken so many barriers
for Asian-Americans.
You're a huge role model to so
many people around the world.
You've just come
back from China.
When you were growing
up, obviously I
would imagine that there were
very few Asian-American role
models.
But how did you deal with that?
Who did you look to?
Who inspired you when
you were growing up?
JEREMY LIN: I would say in
terms of Asian role models,
my biggest role model was
probably my big brother,
just in terms of
I wanted to be who
he was in terms of how
he took care of me,
or the type of
person that he was.
So it was very helpful
to have somebody
who was three years older.
I was the one who was
always in trouble,
and he was always
very responsible.
He took care of a lot of
things, so it was helpful for me
to see that.
And as we got older, he taught
me what it means to be a man.
Because people think
to be a man you
have to have big pecs,
and flex and stuff.
And it's like, no--
being a man is
really like learning
to love and serve other people.
How do you take care of people?
How do you take care
of everything, really?
And a lot of that comes
from the Bible for me.
And so he kind of taught me
a lot of these deeper aspects
of what it means to be a man.
But then in terms of straight
role models, it was Jordan.
And he's not Asian, obviously.
[LAUGHTER]
MARVIN CHOW: He's not?
JEREMY LIN: But
he was a minority.
And I actually
gravitate towards--
I drew a lot from minorities.
It didn't have to be Asian,
because I didn't really
have one in basketball that
was Asian until Yao got there.
But even with Yao
it was still hard,
because I was never
going to be 7'6".
But once Yao got there,
it definitely helped.
I remember telling
my mom I'm going
to be the first Chinese
player in the NBA.
And obviously I was
very uneducated,
because there were
Chinese players before me
that made the NBA.
But I didn't know
it at the time,
so I was like, I'm
going to be the first.
And then Yao came, and
I was like, all right,
this is for real.
It's going to happen.
I can do it, because
I see him, I saw him.
So there was definitely
an inspiration
that I drew from
him, but there wasn't
like the "I'm going to
be exactly like him,"
because I always knew I was
never going to be a center.
MARVIN CHOW: Did you have
the Jordan wings poster--
JEREMY LIN: Yeah.
MARVIN CHOW: --in the bedroom?
JEREMY LIN: I had it all, yeah.
MARVIN CHOW: Had it all?
JEREMY LIN: Space
Jam was the ish.
MARVIN CHOW: It's coming back.
It's coming back.
Favorite Jordan moment?
JEREMY LIN: Favorite Jordan
moment was definitely
the game 6 against Utah.
That solidified it.
But there was a lot of moments.
I used to watch his
games from the backyard.
So he would do a move and
then I would go and do it.
[LAUGHTER]
I wasn't really much
into defense back then.
So when they were playing
defense, I would go do the move
and I would run back and try to
catch Jordan's next offensive
possession.
MARVIN CHOW: That's awesome.
You talked a little about
your brother teaching you
about being a man
and the big pecs,
and that's not what it's about.
And I think you talk a
lot about how in the US,
Asian men are viewed
unfairly in that--
not only when it comes to
sports, but also things
like dating, and social.
And I wonder if you
could talk about that,
and how do you envision changing
some of that stereotype,
or how can all of us
change that stereotype?
JEREMY LIN: I think
it's happening slowly.
From an Asian-American
masculinity standpoint,
it's like for us to be really
unashamed of everything
we are, who we are.
I think-- one of
the things I really
enjoy following is
e-sports, because I
feel like back then it
was like, you're a gamer?
You're such a nerd would be
the word that they would say.
And now it's actually
becoming something
that people appreciate.
I just came back from
the Internationals,
where there was $24
million-- yeah, what's up?
The International.
MARVIN CHOW: $24 million?
JEREMY LIN: $24 million
dollar cash prize.
It's becoming something that
people really appreciate.
And so I think for
Asian-American males,
it's just like keep
doing what you're doing
and eventually people
will come to appreciate.
We're starting to see
certain breakthroughs
in the entertainment
industry, and Hollywood.
And we see a lot of
junk that comes with it.
Like what Daniel
Dae Kim did, that's
awesome because you have to be
able to stand up for yourself.
Be great at what you are.
Be respectful.
Be polite, because that's
what Asian culture teaches.
Even in the public eye,
almost passive and safe,
but I think there's a way
to be strong and polite
at the same time.
To be confident and
humble at the same time.
And I think that's what we need
more of-- just people being
great at what they do, and then
staying strong to who they are
and being proud to represent
Asian-American males.
And I think people used to
talk about "yellow fever."
Really, yellow fever
was just Asian girls.
It wasn't like we saw everybody
being like, Asian dudes!
Everyone go find
yourself an Asian guy!
Right?
[LAUGHTER]
That wasn't yellow fever.
MARVIN CHOW: It's
more like a flu.
JEREMY LIN: We're going
to redefine yellow fever.
MARVIN CHOW: I love it.
Right here-- it started right
here, the new yellow fever.
Now we're getting
a little off track.
[LAUGHTER]
Totally forgot where I am.
I think when you
talk about that,
standing up for who you are,
maybe some examples from you.
But the need to, or
the desire to conform,
to try to be a part of
a bigger group-- and I'm
sure that's true in sports and
a team, versus being who you are
and standing up.
I've seen your YouTube videos.
You've got such an
interesting personality.
How do you balance
that need to conform
to the culture of a team that
maybe is obviously not Asian,
but still be proud of
your Asian heritage?
JEREMY LIN: Yeah,
that's probably
something that was really
tricky in the beginning.
I remember I had a teammate who
was like, wait, I don't get it.
How can you be
Chinese and Asian?
You can only be one.
And I was like--
[LAUGHTER]
MARVIN CHOW: African-American.
JEREMY LIN: I'm like,
are you kidding me?
I decided to explain
to him I could actually
be Japanese and Asian, too.
Or you could be any
country in Africa
and be African, or
whatever, European.
So I had to explain.
And that was literally,
like, they knew nothing.
Some of my teammates
knew nothing.
They were like, so you're like
really into samurais and stuff?
I'm like, that's
not even remotely--
but that was just how far.
And I don't blame them.
Because I've gone back to some
of my teammates' hometowns,
and where they came from,
and their upbringing,
and I meet their parents.
It's like they literally
have no interaction
with any Asian people.
And so at first I was
just really shocked
at a lot of stuff.
And when people think
Asians, it's really just--
at least in the NBA-- it's Bruce
Lee, Jet Li, and Jackie Chan.
That's it.
And Yao.
And Yao.
But it's those
four, and that's it.
That's a thing I
love about sports
is, by being a certain person
or acting a certain way,
you develop team chemistry.
They gravitate towards you.
You build that
relationship, and then they
start to care about who you
are, where you came from.
And recently what we've seen
is a ton of my teammates
are asking me to
take them to Asia.
They want to come with
me to my camps in Taiwan.
They want to come with
me to my camps in China.
I brought Caris LeVert this
past year and other teammates
were like, I can't
believe you brought Caris.
Why didn't you bring me?
So it's cool, man.
It's cool to see
people are loving.
And also it's helpful,
because the game is growing.
MARVIN CHOW: Yeah,
the game [INAUDIBLE]..
JEREMY LIN: The NBA
is going to China,
so people are naturally becoming
more and more exposed to it.
But it's a day-by-day,
inch-by-inch, brick-by-brick
process mentality where it's
like, slowly, hopefully,
people will start to
see more and more of it,
become more educated
about who I am
or what this culture
is all about.
Yeah.
MARVIN CHOW: That's cool.
All right, enough
about basketball.
Let's talk About the future.
JEREMY LIN: Cool.
MARVIN CHOW: Esports.
I know nothing about
esports, so this
is the question they gave me.
So you're an avid
esports player.
You just launched
a team on Dota,
and then you're soon becoming
a correspondent for ELEAGUE.
How did you get into this?
How do you think about it?
Where is it going?
What companies should
we buy stock in?
[LAUGHTER]
What is it?
JEREMY LIN: I just love "Dota."
I played for 15 years.
And basically when I have no
energy to play basketball,
I go and play "Dota."
It's kind of like I
just have those two
strong passions that I
always kind of go towards.
And I always felt like gaming
is one thing that people think
is like, if I just played
video games all day,
I would be as good as them.
It's like, no.
No, you wouldn't--
not even close.
Because it takes talent
to make decisions
in the brain and
the coordination
that it takes to make these
split-second decisions.
Just like sports.
Just like being great
at other things.
Some people just have a
different level of talent,
and I think that is the
part that is becoming
more and more appreciated.
But I still see in the esports
industry a lot of these players
are getting exploited.
They have one-year deals.
You see in the NBA
right now people signing
for $200 and something million.
There's a lot more
stability in that,
and I hope to see esports
develop into the sports
industry where players and
owners, the whole industry
grows, but everybody
benefits equally from it.
MARVIN CHOW: Yeah, definitely.
I think it's early, early days,
so hopefully we'll get there.
I saw-- I don't remember
if it's the Nets,
but a lot of your
teammates and you
were playing "Clash of Clans."
JEREMY LIN: Except they
play differently than me.
They spend like $10,000 each.
MARVIN CHOW: They
just buy their way in?
JEREMY LIN: Yeah.
MARVIN CHOW: But did
you get them into it,
or were they already into
it before you got there?
Is it a bridge?
JEREMY LIN: I
remember the Rockets,
we all played together.
We were all in the
same clan, too.
[LAUGHTER]
And I think Dwight
had started before,
and then I got a
couple of people.
I got Omri into it.
I got Ronnie Brewer into it.
And I'm obviously
doing the right thing--
just slowly chipping
away, playing the game.
Maybe buy a couple
gems here and there.
But I look, and their base is
better than mine in three days.
And I'm like, how
much did you spend?
And they're like, I don't
know, probably like--
it was a few thousand.
MARVIN CHOW: I'm sure.
JEREMY LIN: They just
spent a few thousand
and upgraded everything.
And I was just like--
[LAUGHTER]
I was like, dude, this is--
MARVIN CHOW: It's not a
shopping site, it's a game.
JEREMY LIN: Yeah.
But then I was
like, you know what?
We're all in the same clan.
[LAUGHTER]
Keep spending.
MARVIN CHOW: That's awesome.
A couple of quick
questions for you.
And then we'll get to some
Dory questions, which people
submitted, and then we'll take
some live questions in a couple
minutes.
So, hairstyles-- YouTube.
We got the braids.
We got the Mohawk,
I personally like.
We got the man bun today.
What's your favorite?
How do you decide?
JEREMY LIN: My favorite is the
Mohawk, but not the really high
Mohawk.
It was probably when the
Mohawk was first starting,
that's probably the
one I like the most.
But really-- I'll just explain.
There was seven of us
who decided to grow a man
bun together two years ago.
So it was me--
MARVIN CHOW: Players or friends?
JEREMY LIN: Me and my brother,
my cousin, my trainer,
my agent, my bodyguard in
China, and my masseuse.
[LAUGHTER]
MARVIN CHOW: The cupping guy?
He doesn't even have any hair.
JEREMY LIN: I have one in
Cali, one in Europe, one in--
MARVIN CHOW: I was like,
the guy here has no hair.
JEREMY LIN: So we were all
sitting there, and we're like,
we're going to do it together.
It was on our Asia
trip, so there was
seven of us sitting in a room.
We're like, we're going
to do it together.
That's how it spawned.
And then from there,
I thought I would
have a man bun in three months.
I've never grown
my hair out before.
It actually took like a
year, year and a half.
But in between there's
always awkward phases,
so I was forced to
improvise and come up
with different hairstyles
that would look OK.
And so that's where you got
the slick back, and the side,
and the Mohawk.
The Mohawk was never
supposed to be the Mohawk.
The Mohawk was just--
it's too short to be a man bun.
MARVIN CHOW: It's the
beginning of the man bun.
JEREMY LIN: And then
once I got the man bun,
the whole hair thing
took a life of its own.
And so my friends
were texting me like,
you should do this style.
You should do this style.
And people started texting me
braids, and box braids, and--
what else do I have?
I don't even know--
random stuff.
And then people
were challenging me.
One of them was like, you
won't do a double ponytail.
[LAUGHTER]
MARVIN CHOW: Now they're
just messing with you.
JEREMY LIN: And I was
like, bet you I will.
So I did it.
But I felt like, for
me, that was also
a turning point in
my life, because that
was the first time
where I stopped caring
about what everyone thought.
Before that, I would read
Twitter mentions and Facebook
comments and I'd be really
hurt by a lot of things
that people would say, legit.
Because I pour my blood, sweat,
and tears into a lot of things
I do, and for someone
to just be like, well,
you suck, we blah, blah,
blah, this is your fault,
or we don't want you, that's
like if some random person came
into your office.
And people don't realize
we have emotions, too.
When people hate--
a lot of athletes
actually are even more sensitive
than the average person,
because we're so used
to everyone loving us.
MARVIN CHOW: Loving you, yeah.
JEREMY LIN: And so I
had to go beyond that.
My faith was a
huge part of that,
where it's I'm living,
playing, breathing, for God,
and I need his approval.
And when I got to that point
where God became so much
more a bigger part of who
I was and my identity,
a lot of what everyone else
was saying kind of just
went in one ear and
went out the other.
I didn't really care
that much anymore.
So the hair was kind of like--
even though it's playful
from the outside looking in,
from the inside out it was
a very real manifestation
of how I was growing
as an individual.
Now I'll do anything.
I don't care what anyone thinks.
I'll do braids.
I had braids.
I had all these crazy designs.
And if I like it, I'll do
it, and if I don't, I won't.
And that's pretty much
my philosophy on that.
I didn't mean to go deeper in
this very humorous question,
but I had to share.
MARVIN CHOW: Do you
travel with a hairstylist?
JEREMY LIN: No.
I don't travel--
I don't even know, like, no.
I don't even know what
a hairstylist does.
What does that even--
MARVIN CHOW: They do hair.
JEREMY LIN: No, if
I want it braided,
I'll be like, hey,
anybody in Shanghai--
MARVIN CHOW: Just like,
Weibo out, can I get a braid?
JEREMY LIN: Well, usually
my agent will just help me.
But for example in Cali, I
don't know any good braiders.
So I never braid my
hair here, I just
wait till I go to New York.
MARVIN CHOW: Back to New
York, because that's where
all the good braiders are.
JEREMY LIN: Yeah.
So if anyone's hella good at
braiding, just let me know.
MARVIN CHOW: Jeremy Lin at
Google.com, just email him.
So you were talking
about things you're
good at, what you're doing.
So if you weren't playing
in the NBA today--
obviously, no one would
want to think about that--
but if for some chance you
weren't playing basketball,
what do you think
you'd be doing?
JEREMY LIN: I
would definitely be
doing some type of
philanthropic, nonprofit work.
I love kids.
I love helping people
who are in need.
Actually, a lot of that
came from my experiences
with my teammates who grew
up in East Palo Alto, which
10-15 years ago was the
highest crime per capita
of any city in the US.
And I remember going
to pick up my teammates
and they'd be like,
I didn't sleep well.
There was gunshots last night.
Things like that,
that's where it started.
And then I lived in East
Palo Alto for three weeks
during my high school--
just as part of a trip to
try to spend time with them.
MARVIN CHOW: Immersion.
JEREMY LIN: Yeah, kind of
like a community service type
thing with my church.
And that was an
amazing experience.
And that kind of
set the tone where
I was like, man, if I
ever get the chance,
I'm going to have a foundation.
I'm going to do this.
And that's what I would love
to do when I'm done playing
is play with kids, after
school tutoring, teaching them
basketball, these things.
I feel like there's a
lot of purpose in that.
I feel really like it's very
impactful-- not just to them,
but it's extremely impactful
to me, and meaningful to me.
I learn a lot from the kids.
I learn a lot from
the interactions.
And I think I get changed
more sometimes than they do,
which I think is
something that maybe
is a little bit under-rated
or not talked about when you
think about philanthropic work.
MARVIN CHOW: Definitely.
So switching gears
a little bit more,
you have a pretty
epic YouTube channel.
It's pretty impressive I have
to say, as a professional.
Obviously you've got
a ton of other players
in your videos, which
I think is amazing.
I don't know how it
takes to coordinate that,
but how does that work?
How do you get other
players to be in the videos?
Are they your friends?
Who are you good friends
with in the league?
What is that whole
dynamic of, like, hey,
come be in my YouTube video?
JEREMY LIN: I love
the finished product,
but the filming
process is the worst.
Because NBA players, we
have the attention span
of a grasshopper.
I don't even know if they
have good attention spans.
MARVIN CHOW: A bad grasshopper.
JEREMY LIN: Literally, we
had to film in two minutes,
otherwise a lot of NBA players
were like, bro, I got to go.
Come on.
I'm hungry, you know?
That's how we all are in the
NBA because we're so catered to.
So it's like,
literally we're trying
to get all our takes
done and our time span
is two to five minutes for
every-- the "How to Fit
In to the NBA,"
everything that we filmed
was like five minutes
with each player.
MARVIN CHOW: Yeah.
JEREMY LIN: And then
sometimes, like when
I was trying to get Steph, I
texted him early in the summer.
He's like, I can't.
And he texted me
the day before, he's
like, actually I leave
for China tomorrow
but I could do it
in the afternoon.
And I was in LA,
so I was like, OK.
And we had just
filmed with DeAndre,
and I had never met DeAndre.
So I was like, hey--
the Clippers have this
pick-up thing-- so I was like,
hey, DeAndre, do
you think it's cool
if we film something
for my YouTube channel?
[LAUGHTER]
And of course, we had never had
person-to-person interaction
aside from playing on the court.
He was really polite.
He was like, yeah, of course.
I'm like, I mean,
like right now.
He's like, right now?
I'm like, yeah.
So we went-- and if you
guys know the video,
we had to do it outside
and there's cars going by.
And the audio was so
bad that we actually--
the voice that's in
there is not his voice.
MARVIN CHOW: Oh, really?
You had to re-record?
JEREMY LIN: We couldn't hear
it, so we had to do a voiceover.
And I had one of my
high school teammates
just listening to DeAndre
Jordan's voice over and over
and over again.
And he was like, na,
na, na, na, practicing,
trying to get DeAndre's voice.
So it was just very
rushed, very chaotic.
I never want another player
to feel like I'm using them.
Because a lot of people come
at all of us for things.
I never want to be that one guy
who's trying to get something,
so I try to make it easy.
But that's why I haven't
really done as many recently.
It's just too hectic.
We were flying back and forth.
And I'm not that passionate
about making funny YouTube
videos.
I'd rather play really
well on the court.
MARVIN CHOW: That's a good
call, but they're good.
JEREMY LIN: So I was training,
and at the end of training
it's like, all right,
put these high socks on.
Put this headband on
and say these lines.
It just felt like it
was too hard for me,
and so I've taken
a little step back.
MARVIN CHOW: Well, they're good.
JEREMY LIN: I appreciate it.
MARVIN CHOW: OK, so there's
a girl on my team named Mary,
and she has a
question on her mind
which I'm sure is on half
the audience's mind in terms
of what's the
personal situation?
Are you dating somebody?
As a role model of Asian men
and the new yellow fever,
where are we on this thing?
JEREMY LIN: Yeah,
I'm not right now.
I'm probably not
going to go too much
into the rest of my personal
life, but yeah, that's a no.
[LAUGHTER]
MARVIN CHOW: Hit
him up on Twitter.
It's good.
All right, we're going to
get into some Dory questions.
These are questions, like I
said, that everyone submitted.
I think we'll do a Dory, and
then we'll do live questions.
So I don't know if we
have a mic in the middle,
or how we're doing that, but if
anyone wants to ask a question,
please line up.
So first, some of the
questions-- people
vote them up, so
they're the questions
that are most popular.
So the first question
is, how do you
share your faith with your
peers and fellow teammates?
JEREMY LIN: I think the first
thing to anything, really,
it's not just if it's religion,
but anything is really
just by earning their
respect and showing
that you live the way that
you say people should.
So I think a lot of it
really is just lifestyle.
In the NBA, obviously
the athlete lifestyle
is the athlete lifestyle.
[LAUGHTER]
So to be different--
makes an impression.
And then I don't
try to walk around
with my Bible, like, hey,
I'm reading the Bible.
But just like on the plane,
on the bus, we travel so much.
We're in the hotel all the time.
We're always around each other.
One time I was reading it,
and my team was like, yo,
what is that, Harry Potter?
[LAUGHTER]
Because it was like a--
MARVIN CHOW: It's
a big book, yeah.
JEREMY LIN: --footnoted
edition, so it's a bigger book.
He's like, what are you
reading, Harry Potter?
And I was like, no,
actually, this is the Bible.
And then that opened
up a conversation.
Also, we have chapel
before every game.
MARVIN CHOW: Oh, that's right.
JEREMY LIN: So it's like a
15-minute, NBA-mandated--
if you want, you can get a five-
to seven-minute, short sermon
type thing before
every NBA game.
And that's a very easy
way to, like, hey,
you want to come to chapel?
Sure.
We've had small groups.
Bible studies on all the teams
for the last four or five years
that I've been on.
The Hornets was awesome.
We had 12 out of 15
players attending.
It was amazing.
And actually, I
thought that athletes
would be really opposed to
anything to do with religion
or Christianity in general.
But I think if you get an
athlete outside of their whole
"I have to be this
alpha male" facade--
MARVIN CHOW: Right.
Yeah.
JEREMY LIN: I think
you'll see that there's
a lot of uncertainty
in every athlete,
because injury could
be around the corner.
There's so many life
situations, pressure situations.
So-and-so wants money from me.
I have to choose between
this brother and this cousin,
or my mom and my dad, or
someone stole this from me.
How do you deal with pressure?
Everyone's looking to
me to raise my fam--
there's so many situations.
And I think that drives
a lot of NBA players
to actually be open to--
because we realize we're
not capable of everything
that we have.
And I know that for sure, and
a lot of other players do, too.
If you go to an NBA locker
room before the game,
you'll see players like
you've never seen them before.
Some of them are really rattled.
Some of them are really nervous.
And then some of them
obviously don't deal with that.
But even the ones who are
very arrogant and confident,
there are still very
many moments of weakness
that we all have.
MARVIN CHOW: That
sounds really special.
Audience question?
SPEAKER 5: OK, so my
question was, sometimes
when the fans see some
treatment that you'd
receive from the team,
like either Ronnie Price
is going to start over Jeremy
Lin, those kind of things,
we automatically attach this
to maybe this is racism.
Maybe this is--
I think one thing the
fans want to know is,
according to your
own perspective, how
frequent is this
that maybe the race
card is played a little bit?
JEREMY LIN: Yeah,
that's a great question.
I think that race is so deeply
embedded and intertwined
to everything that everybody
says or thinks subconsciously,
that it is a huge
part of the NBA.
There's pros and cons to it.
So the pros is, if I scored
20 points, they're like,
he went off.
Linsanity.
It's like, dude, I scored 20.
Some people average 30 a game.
So my successes get heightened,
but then also my failures
get heightened as well.
So everything
becomes polarizing.
So there's no middle
ground with me.
It's either he's the best,
he's the worst, he's great,
he sucks.
It's racism, it's not.
It's very extreme, two
ends of the spectrum,
and that's the controversy
that I've been caught up
in the middle of.
And I think that to
answer your question,
yeah, I think that's
part of it, but I
think it's not everything.
I needed to grow as a player.
There were times where
I was not good enough
to deliver to the team
what they needed from me,
and I was replaced.
And I think does it make it
a little bit easier for them
to maybe say because I'm Asian?
Do I have to prove
myself a little bit more?
Yes.
But if you look at Yao's
career, aside from his first two
years when he was constantly
doubted by everybody
and openly made fun of by a
lot of players, after that,
because he was so good,
no one said anything.
Yao was Yao.
For me, I have not reached
the pinnacle of success
that Yao has had, so I've
had to deal with more
of this influx of role.
And that's where
maybe race won't
affect somebody who is clearly
above and beyond better.
For me sometimes it's been a
little bit more on the margins.
And that's where
race, I would say,
plays more of a factor,
which for me has been
a big motivation to
become even better
and to get even
better to the point
where there is no argument here.
There is no reason to have
race play any part of it.
Also one thing I've learned
is also not only race,
but personality and culture.
Asians are taught to--
it's not taught for me to go
into the head coach's office
and cuss him out, but
that happens a lot, like,
with other people.
And so I had to learn how to
stand up for myself by having
serious conversations
at the right time
and putting my foot down and
saying, hey, that's not OK.
You can't talk to me that way.
Or, I feel like I'm
better than this player,
or I feel like I can
bring this to the team.
And I didn't do that very
much earlier in my career.
And I've learned that
in an alpha male man
society like the NBA, you have
to earn their respect by doing
that sometimes.
And that's what I've learned,
which is why I say be humble,
but be strong at the same time.
They aren't mutually exclusive.
Whereas I used to think,
hey, I'm going to be humble.
I won't say anything.
And it got to the point where
I was getting stepped on.
So that had something
to do with it.
Race had something
to do with it.
Me not being good enough
at that time had something
to do with it.
It was all those put together.
MARVIN CHOW: We'll go to
the second Dory question,
and then go back
to a live question.
So the second question is,
how was the recent Asian trip,
and did you see any
differences in impact
compared to the past few years?
JEREMY LIN: Yeah, this one
was really, really successful.
We had a celebrity
all-star game,
and we had over 10 million
people watching online
during just the
livestream alone,
not even people who came
back later to watch it.
So it was an amazing event.
And I launched a basketball
league slash schools.
We're going to open
schools in different cities
and they're going to be kind
of like recreational leagues
where you can also
go for training.
So that was the primary
focus of this trip,
along with a lot
of my endorsements.
MARVIN CHOW: Have you seen
the level of ball go up?
You've been going for,
like, seven years now.
JEREMY LIN: Yeah, it
gets crazier and crazier.
I feel like the fans
over there are like--
there have been times
where it's actually
dangerous, like
legitimately life dangerous,
to be in the middle of
some of the mobs or crowds.
They're really
fanatical, enthusiastic.
MARVIN CHOW: It's the man bun.
JEREMY LIN: I didn't have
the man bun at the time.
I had the full hawk.
MARVIN CHOW: Let's
do a live question.
SPEAKER 6: Hey, Jeremy.
Thank you so much for coming.
My name is George.
I was the only Asian guy on the
basketball team in high school.
JEREMY LIN: There you go.
Nice.
Respect.
SPEAKER 6: And Yao was
playing at the time,
and all the kids at the
school called me Yao.
Then you came out, Linsanity.
And the other kids
called me, oh man, that's
Jeremy Lin on the
basketball team.
I didn't think about
race at the time.
I was like, man,
that's a compliment.
They're comparing
me to Jeremy, man.
That's love right there.
I must have some game.
And I'm not going
to lie, I watch
a lot of your
highlights on YouTube
and think about
your top 10 plays.
So I have a question for you.
What's your most
memorable play of yours?
JEREMY LIN: Most memorable play?
I would say the
obvious answer is
the game winner against
Toronto, because that
was pretty surreal.
But actually the one moment
that I maybe remember even more
vividly was when we were
playing the Lakers when
I was with New York, and I hit
a three from the left baseline.
And I remember after that
they called a time out,
but that was a dagger
to put the game away.
And I remember I had never
heard a crowd that loud.
And I can't really
fully describe it well,
but it felt like I was
like three inches off--
it felt like I was
levitating, like hovering,
because the noise was
so crazy that I felt
like I was like in the air.
It was the weirdest thing.
That's why I remember it
so vividly is I was like,
what's going on right now?
This is so crazy.
I think a lot of it
was adrenaline, too.
But, yeah, that's the loudest
I've ever heard a gym,
and it was a pretty
special moment for me.
MARVIN CHOW: That's great.
You talked earlier--
go back to Dory--
about the role that your
family and your parents
play in your success.
So the question
is, for those of us
who are parents, any advice on
how to encourage and support
our kids without being too
much of a "tiger" parent?
JEREMY LIN: Yeah.
My mom definitely has a
tiger mom personality.
I'm glad that I
experienced that,
because I feel like it gave
me a lot more perspective.
I'm obviously not a parent, so
I don't have personal expertise.
But as a kid growing up,
if I could say one thing,
it'd probably be guide your
kids instead of do everything
for them.
And then, never
let your kid feel
like their success or
their accomplishments
define how the
parent loves the kid.
I think that's super important.
Because for me, I feel like
I'm very results oriented.
You want to work
hard, go and get it.
But the reality of the
situation is, especially
with Christianity, a lot
of it is grace given.
It's not because I deserved it.
It's not because I
can go and earn it.
I can't go and
earn my salvation.
I can't go and work
my way to heaven.
It just comes with
accepting grace.
And I think that's a concept
that I really struggle with,
because my whole life I've
had to earn, work, out-work,
and blah, blah, blah, blah.
And even in life it's
like you do these things,
you climb the ranks.
But at some point, you're
going to find yourself actually
pretty empty.
In the height of Linsanity,
I remember feeling
like this is very fleeting.
When I won the
state championship,
I remember thinking,
wow, it was awesome,
but it left super fast.
There's a need for more.
There's always
something else that you
want to go and accomplish.
There's always another goal.
You could have the
best individual career,
and then you start a
family and now it's
for my kids, the
same exact path.
So it's a rat race
that never ends.
I feel like having the
parents teach the kids who
you are as a person, aside from
everything that the Silicon
Valley or the culture that
we live in will tell you
you need to go and do,
it's very important.
And obviously
ambition is important.
Teaching your kids
to be motivated,
but allowing them to
grow through failure.
My greatest moments in my
life, the turning points,
most often were
failures, not successes.
It was really the failures
that taught me the most.
And I think I would let my kids
fail at times if they're not
listening to the advice.
Be OK with letting them fail,
because I think when something
clicks in their mind and they
take more ownership over it,
that's when I feel
like real parenting has
been accomplished.
MARVIN CHOW: Makes sense.
We'll go live question.
SPEAKER 7: Hi, Jeremy.
Thanks for coming.
And congratulations on
your successful China trip.
JEREMY LIN: Thanks.
SPEAKER 7: We know that you
just come back from China.
And then thanks for sharing a
lot of your inspiring stories
today.
Here there is the
invitation from SVCBA--
it's actually Silicon Valley
Chinese Basketball Association,
and it's an invitation for the
next opening in September 10th.
We don't know whether
you have the time,
but it would be great if I can
give this invitation letter
for you.
So SVCBA started more
than six years ago.
It started with three
basketball teams.
Right now, it has
more than 32 teams.
JEREMY LIN: Gotcha.
Very cool.
SPEAKER 7: I have seen some
of the players in this room,
including a player down there.
JEREMY LIN: Nice.
I appreciate it.
I'll be in Brooklyn, because
I leave the end of this week
to go and train.
SPEAKER 7: Got it.
JEREMY LIN: But I'm thankful
that you brought it up.
It's a league that I'll
keep an eye out for.
And if in the future I'm
in the area or something,
maybe show some type of support.
But I appreciate it.
Thank you very much.
Yeah, I won't be here
September 10th, unfortunately.
SPEAKER 7: OK.
Thanks a lot.
JEREMY LIN: No problem.
MARVIN CHOW: All right, we'll
go to the last Dory question.
How many years of basketball
do you see left in you,
and do you still want to
be-- it's not my question.
[LAUGHTER]
Do you still want to be a pastor
after retiring from basketball?
Someone's recruiting
for God, I think.
JEREMY LIN: I don't know how
many years left I want to play.
I always told
myself I don't want
to be the type of player
who plays until I'm 40
and is just a shell of myself.
But I also really love
the game, so I don't know.
I feel like as the
time approaches
I'll probably realistically
play until around 35,
God willing that my body
holds up until then.
And then I used to
want to be a pastor,
but now I've done a
lot of business stuff.
And one thing I really cannot
see myself ever doing is going
back to school.
Like lectures,
books, essays, tests,
I don't think I can
do it ever again.
So I don't think I'm
going to do that anymore,
because seminary--
I think I would probably
do more the route
of spending a lot of time
working with my foundation
and kids.
And then I would do some
public speaking type stuff
to share my experiences where I
could share, for example, this.
I'm sharing about who
I am, my faith, and all
these different things without
having to go to school, and--
[LAUGHTER]
--really just having
to go to school.
MARVIN CHOW: You're really
looking for the honorary pastor
[INAUDIBLE].
JEREMY LIN: Pretty much, yeah.
MARVIN CHOW: All right,
we'll do a couple
live questions to close it out.
SPEAKER 8: Hey, Jeremy.
My name is Michael.
First and foremost, I
want to say your story
in NBA is very inspiring.
In some way I say my journey
to Google is similar.
[LAUGHTER]
Not as tough.
But I think going
through those troubles
and never listening to
the talk and just keep
pursuing your dreams,
I think that's amazing.
My question revolves around
being a good representation
of the community.
Growing up in high
school, I was one
of 20 Asians out of 3,000
kids, one of the only Asians
in the history of that school
to play basketball and football.
And at the time--
I resonate when you say you feel
like you're kind of in a zoo
and people are looking to you.
Oh, I've never seen an
Asian person before.
I want to see if the
stereotypes are true.
About the time, especially
with 9/11 and all that,
I was just focused
on being an American.
So you in the NBA now,
I was curious to see
if you could describe the
pressure of being a model,
or being a good representation
of our community.
How do you go about
that, day to day?
I'm sure in the NBA you
have a lot of eyes on you,
so I'm curious to see what
you do to go about that.
JEREMY LIN: Yeah.
I always felt consistency and
authenticity are the things
that when I'm done
with it, I want
to be able to be those things.
And I think I'm actually a
very controversial player,
but I'm not controversial
for the reasons
that every other player.
Any other player who is
as controversial as me,
it's usually because like they
might have had some cheating
scandal, or some performance
enhancing, or the dogfighting,
or the gambling, or whatever.
There's usually some
off-the-court issue, or the way
that they handled something,
or them being a diva,
or them fighting
with a teammate.
That usually creates
the controversy.
For me it was just
purely because
of what happened in New York,
and because I was Asian.
At first I didn't want
anything to do with it,
because every time
people would be like,
man, you're playing
well and you're Asian.
Tell me about being Asian.
It's like, why can't you talk
about me just playing well?
Why can't I just be
like everybody else?
But now I wear it like a badge.
It's like, yeah, I am Asian.
Like, I love being
Asian, and I'm
going to represent
us the right way.
I'm going to play the right way.
I'm going to work
as hard as I can.
I'm going to treat my
teammates the right way.
And then hopefully, when
it's all said and done,
hopefully after
this season, people
will be able to
say, hey, you know
what, we slept on him again.
Because I feel like, for
me, the last few seasons
have been really
difficult with my role,
or different things
I was going through,
and last year with injuries.
And I feel like I've been
waiting for one chance
to really knock the
door down again.
So I'm just trying
to stay consistent.
If the opportunity
ever comes and I
can break the door down again
and have a breakout year
or lead a team to do
something amazing,
I feel like that would
be the best thing I
could do to represent Asians--
not saying a bunch of
stuff, or whatever.
It's just like, just
do it the right way,
and I feel like eventually
success will come.
People will recognize
it, respect it,
and then hopefully
I'll make everybody
who supports me really proud.
SPEAKER 8: Appreciate it.
By the way, it really hurt
me when you left the Lakers.
But I'm going to
support you 100% man.
JEREMY LIN: They didn't want me.
I didn't have a choice.
MARVIN CHOW: Not
his choice, yeah.
All right, we'll do one last
question from the audience
and then we're going
to have to wrap it up.
SPEAKER 9: Hi, Jeremy.
Thank you so much for
coming to Google today.
And I have a question about
the Chinese player, Zhou Qi.
So you know Zhou Qi
joins Houston Rockets.
JEREMY LIN: Yeah.
SPEAKER 9: Do you have
any suggestions to him?
JEREMY LIN: Yeah,
obviously he needs
to get bigger, stronger,
all that, which
is pretty much one of the
issues of every young player.
But then my advice would
be believe you belong.
When I played for the
Warriors, I didn't believe it,
and that's why I sucked.
And when I got to
New York, that's
when I actually
believed I could do it.
So if I missed my
first five shots,
I didn't really care, because
I knew I was good enough.
When I played pick-up
in the summer,
if I missed my first five
shots I don't even think.
I'm shooting the
next 20, I don't
care, because it's pick-up.
But I had to take
that mindset of I
believe I'm a great player.
I believe I'm the best player.
I believe I need whatever, that
self-confidence, taking that
to an NBA floor, which
honestly took me a lot longer.
And I didn't realize
it, but again, that's
one of the subconscious
ways where race affects me.
I didn't really
understand how hard
it was for me to
believe that I belonged,
because when I looked
around I didn't
see anybody who looked like me.
And so if Zhou Qi can get to
the point where he's like,
well, it's cool.
I'm not in China.
I'm not in the CBA, but
I'm as good or better
than these guys--
that will do more for
his game than any skill.
SPEAKER 9: Thank you.
MARVIN CHOW: Thanks so much.
Well, Jeremy, I mean,
you are an inspiration.
You're a trailblazer.
I think we really appreciate
you spending time--
the honesty, the genuineness.
Hope you come back again.
So everyone, please give
it up for Jeremy Lin.
JEREMY LIN: Thank you.
[APPLAUSE]
