G League Identified Player Who Called Jeremy Lin 'Coronavirus'

The G League has identified the player who called Santa Cruz Warriors guard Jeremy Lin "coronavirus" and plans to handle the matter internally.

Kyle Terada/USA TODAY Sports

The G League has identified the player who called Santa Cruz Warriors guard Jeremy Lin "coronavirus" and plans to handle the matter internally, according to The Athletic's Shams Charania.

A G League spokesperson released a statement to Charania and said Lin supports the league's course of action.

"Lin has met the player to discuss the escalating racism and violence toward Asian Americans, and the player understands the impact that hearing his comment had on Lin," the statement read.

In a recent Facebook post, Lin, who is Taiwanese American, detailed how Asian Americans experience racism and said that his generation is "tired" of dealing with prejudice and bigotry.

"Something is changing in this generation of Asian Americans. 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," Lin wrote. 

"I want better for my elders who worked so hard and sacrificed so much to make a life for themselves here. I want better for my niece and nephew and future kids. I want better for the next generation of Asian American athletes than to have to work so hard to just be 'deceptively athletic.'

He continued, saying, "Being an Asian American doesn't mean we don't experience poverty and racism. Being a 9 year NBA veteran doesn't protect me from being called "coronavirus" on the court. Being a man of faith doesn't mean I don't fight for justice, for myself and for others."

After releasing his post, the G League said it would investigate Lin's account of racism during the game.

According to the Associated Press, bigotry toward Asian Americans has grown during the COVID-19 pandemic, including an increase in hate crimes, after the disease originated in the Wuhan province of China.

Stop AAPI Hate, a coalition of Asian American advocacy groups, issued a report in August indicating it received more than 2,500 reports of racism and discrimination toward Asian Americans nationwide since the group formed in March.

Out of the incidents that Stop AAPI Hate categorized, 70.6% involved verbal harassment/name-calling.

The coalition gathered data from 47 states and found that 46% of the incidents occurred in California.

In late February, during an appearance on NBC Sports Bay Area's "Race in America: A Candid Conversation," Lin called for unity after violence against Asian Americans.

"I've always said that in the long run, it can't only be Asians caring about Asian issues, or African Americans caring about African American issues," he said. "If, as minorities, we want the majority to understand what it's like to live a minority experience, and to sympathize and change, we as minorities also have to collaborate, unify and use our voices and stand up for each other. There has to be solidarity on that front."