The excitement among Jeremy Lin fans is known on both sides of the Pacific as "Linsanity."
BOB DOUGHTY: George Hou teaches communication studies at I-Shou University in Taiwan.
GEORGE HOU: "Basketball usually is a sport for American people, European people or African people, because Asian people are not as tall as people from other continents. Through his working hard, he gets the recognition of the fans of basketball, so the Asian people like to feel this story because it kind of compensates their inability to win."
Jeremy Lin's popularity is likely to give basketball another chance at becoming a major sport in Taiwan. Baseball is the most popular sport locally, both on the field and on television. But a local professional basketball league has been growing since two thousand three.
That league had started to change local opinions about basketball even before Jeremy Lin became popular. The Chinese Taipei Basketball Association says one in four Taiwanese already follow basketball.
NBA games are broadcast in Taiwan during the off-season in baseball. The NBA has even held marketing events in Taipei to increase its fan base.
Today young players can be found shooting hoops on any Taiwanese school ground with a basketball court. Chen Sheng-hong, a former basketball reporter and editor-in-chief of Esquire Taiwan, says some of them hope to be the next Jeremy Lin.
CHEN SHENG-HONG: "Why he's so popular in Taiwan, as a Taiwan basketball journalist for many years I think Jeremy Lin is a dream come true for anyone, because we can see he is not very tall or very strong or very quick. Actually he is just of a mediocre basketball player build, but he still can earn a place in the NBA. That's why people here are so crazy about him."
最新
2013-11-25
2013-11-25
2013-11-25
2013-11-25
2013-11-25
2013-11-25