Jeremy Lin on Reddit AMA: Talks about Hornets, racial stereotypes and wearing a headband in the upcoming season

Jeremy Lin, one of the more popular players in the NBA today, had a surprise question-and-answer session with his and basketball fans on social networking and news site, reddit.com on Friday to talk about a variety of topics.

Lin, who signed with the Charlotte Hornets in the 2015 offseason, announced on Twitter he’d be doing the popular “AMA” (Ask Me Anything) session on the site and expectedly got more than what he bargained for.

Lin opened the AMA session saying that it’s his first time on Reddit and eventually took questions from the site’s users. “To be honest, I would love to have played with Yao. Not only do I think our games would complement each other but I just think for two full Asians to share the NBA court on the same team would have been epic and ground-breaking,” Lin answered when asked which team, in any basketball era, would he have wanted to play for if given the option.

Yao Ming was the first Chinese-born player to play in the NBA while Lin, one of the few Asian-American players who have played in the league, is of Asian descent with both parents born in Taiwan. Yao was an eight-time NBA All-Star who played for the Houston Rockets from 2002 to 2011.

At 27 years old, Lin is already an NBA journeyman who has played for the Golden State Warriors (2010-2011), New York Knicks (2011-2012), Rockets (2012 to 2014) and Los Angeles Lakers (2014-2015) before landing with the Hornets for the upcoming NBA season.

Lin was also asked about his new NBA team and city saying that Charlotte reminded him of Palo Alto, which is where Lin attended high school. “I actually really like the city. I know during my press conference I said it reminded me of Palo Alto, and I'm standing by that statement. Both are beautiful cities, very quiet, clean and lowkey. They are both small enough to have the suburb feel but also big enough where you aren't always bored,” Lin said.

Lin, who has averages of 11.2 points and 4.6 assists in his NBA career, also touched on the subject of racial stereotypes and admitted that there are still times when he’s not allowed to go in some arenas because of his looks.

“ It's nice at times that I'm the same size and I look like a normal dude so I can walk around and not draw the attention that a 7-footer would. But sometimes it's frustrating that when I try to walk through arenas (even before road games), they will let in all my teammates but stop me,” Lin said. “It just reminds me how far we have to go as a society in terms of racial stereotypes. People made a big deal about the Hornets security not letting me in but that happens multiple times every year on whatever team I'm on.”

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