Jeremy Lin has come to the defense of Philadelphia Sixers guard JJ Redick, who was called out this weekend for appearing to say a racial slur during a Chinese New Year video. In the video, produced by Chinese media company Tencent, Redick appears to say, "I just wanted to wish all the NBA c---k fans of China a very happy Chinese New Year."
The video, titled "30 NBA Players Wish Chinese Fans a Happy New Year," aired during halftime of a game between the Golden State Warriors and the Portland Trailblazers on February 14, but the video only started going viral yesterdat. Redick explained that he was "tongue-tied" and had intended to say "NBA Chinese fans" but changed his mind mid-sentence to "NBA fans in China," which resulted in the slip up.
Amid the outrage, Lin reached out to Redick and said he truly believes he didn't intend to say a racial slur. The Nets point guard also encouraged fans to not use hateful language toward JJ as a response to the video.
“I truly believe he didn’t say a racial slur and that he has a great deal of respect towards Chinese people,” Lin wrote. “I also reached out to Adam Silver and David Shoemaker. Everyone knows that this word should never be used in referring to Chinese people and everyone is committed to Chinese fans being treated with the equality and respect that they deserve.”
“To the fans, I encourage you to not use hateful language toward the NBA and JJ,” Lin said.
You can read Lin's full comments below.
https://twitter.com/_/status/965453769122213888
https://twitter.com/_/status/965443290324664320
