Provides a comprehensive history of Asian American basketball. It traces how Asian Americans have used basketball to provide them a sense of community, examines how through basketball Asian Americans have traversed racial and ethnic barriers, and demonstrates that perhaps a surprising number of Asian American have excelled at high school, college, and professional hoops.
When Jeremy Lin began to knock down shots for the New York Knicks in 2012, many Americans became aware for the first time that Asian Americans actually play basketball. Indeed, long before Lin shook up the NBA, Asian Americans played the game with passion and skill, and many excelled at high school, college and professional hoops. This comprehensive history of Asian American basketball discusses how these players first found a sense of community in the game, and competed despite an atmosphere of anti-Asian bigotry in historical and contemporary America.