Chinese-American NBA player Jeremy Lin continues to maintain his Christian faith as the "foundation of everything" that he strives to be and do on and off the court in light of his recent change in role as the starting point guard for the Houston Rockets.
"[Faith] gives me a lot of meaning and lot of purpose to be able to say today I'm going to try to live in a way that's glorifying to God and try to worship Him in my thoughts and my actions," he told The Gospel Herald after playing against the Brooklyn Nets in New York on Tuesday.
Since the Mar. 29 game against Los Angeles Clippers, Lin has been the starting point guard as teammate Patrick Beverly suffered a knee injury on Mar. 27. While Beverly could recover in time for the playoffs, Lin will take his place.
Playing under the national spotlight on Apr. 1 against Nets on TNT, Lin scored 16 points on 6-for-14 shooting with four rebounds, two assists and two turnovers in a 105-96 Rockets loss. Lin has averaged 81.6 percent in free-throws. Moreover, he put up his first career triple-double on Feb. 1 against the Cleveland Cavaliers. In 29 minutes of play, Lin scored 15 points, dished 10 assists, and grabbed 11 rebounds to help his team to a 106-92 victory.
The Rockets have lost the last two games playing without center Dwight Howard, Patrick Beverly, and Terrance Jones, but they are still ranked 2nd in the Southwest Division. Tonight, Lin will start again and get another chance to improve his stats and help his team in winning the game against the Toronto Raptors.
While Lin's primary job in the Rockets is to help his team get to the NBA playoffs, he remains focused on the most essential element to his rise to stardom in 2012 and the ability to persevere - his faith in God.
While many players are professing Christians, Lin has been outspoken and continuously acknowledge that faith is what motivates him and keep him grounded. He has also credited his overnight rise to fame to God.
Whether or not he and the Rockets will be able to win the championship this year, Lin, 24, still has potential and have years before him to further gain experience and solidify his basketball career as the first Chinese-American NBA basketball player. Until now, Lin has proved to be a consistent scoring leader and not a flash in the pan.
Putting his faith in action on and off the courts, Lin has also been an advocate in reaching out to the youths as a positive role model. When asked about his involvement in Jubilee Project's "Lost for Words" video, Lin explained the motivation behind it.
"That's just something that I want to encourage everyone to do in terms of mentorship and loving people and thinking outside of yourself - I think that's a biblical principle you want to try to push to everyone else," he shared with The Gospel Herald.
Lin has been a positive role model for many in the Asian-American community and has attracted many followers especially among the Chinese Christian communities in United States and around the world. Youths from Asian countries - Taiwan, China, Hong Kong, Philippines, and more - have shown their outpouring support for the young NBA basketball player in his past visits to Asia.
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