New York Knicks' Jeremy Lin, Floyd Mayweather's Twitter Comments and Race in NBA

Unless you've been trapped under a tree for the past few weeks, surely you've heard all the bru-ha-ha surrounding Jeremy Lin and the New York Knicks as he's taken off as Mike D'Antoni's point guard, leading the Knicks to five straight wins.

On the heels of the longest current winning streak in the NBA, the Knicks have finally rocketed into a playoff spot and are playing D'Antoni style basketball as they've averaged nearly 100 points a game, six more than they were averaging before Lin took over the starting point guard role.

Now, there are plenty of people out there who have already argued the many topics surrounding the basketball side of where the Knicks stand with Lin, how long Lin will play at this level, where Carmelo will fit back in and what happens as this team moves forward.

However, one thought has crept up over the past few days, punctuated by Floyd Mayweather's comments recently on the public's reaction to Lin based on the fact that he is Asian. In short, Mayweather tweeted that Lin was garnering all of the hype because he was of Asian descent, while black players do what he does nightly and get far less praise.

I've never been one to steer away from a debate over race in sports, as I do think it's healthy to analyze situations like this for the mere fact that talking about it helps us to move past it and hopefully build from it.

When it comes to Lin, I would say that there is some attention placed on him because of his race, but to call that the motivating factor would be overlooking the point entirely.

When you want to go throwing racial accusations out, the situation must be examined in its entirety. However, what's been happening as of late is a lot of thought along the lines of, "He's Asian, the public is going crazy about him, therefore they're only doing it because he's Asian."

To me, that's entirely overlooking the point.

First, you have to look at where the Knicks were sitting before Lin came in. Carmelo Anthony was out with a groin injury, Baron Davis' recovery was having major setbacks and the Knicks had no point guards save an out-of-place Iman Shumpert and a Mike Bibby that would fit in better as a zombie on "The Walking Dead."

Lin came off the bench 10 days ago and put up a 25-point, seven-assist, five-rebound night in a Knicks win. D'Antoni then, with the smartest thing he's done all year, put Lin in to start, at which point he reeled off four straight impressive performances accompanied by four more Knicks wins.

The chaos in the media really started after the Knicks beat Utah in that first start and then reached out of control on the charts after Lin put up 38 points on the Lakers last Friday. Over that time, people started to learn more about Lin, that he was a Harvard graduate, that he was sleeping on Landry Fields' couch, that he was just a good guy overall.

Of course, in this day and age we can't just appreciate a good thing for what it is. Linsanity came along and people either rode the wave or got annoyed by it. Few stayed in the middle and most everyone had their opinion, which has led to racially charged accusations at the public over the past few days.

However, when I hear comments like what came from Mayweather yesterday, I can't help but be astonished.

In just this season alone, there has been similar media attention given to Norris Cole after he hit some big shots early in the season, including a 20-point (14 in the fourth quarter) performance against the Celtics.

Along similar lines, attention has been given to the following:

MarShon Brooks' mid-January hot streak before his injury.

Brandon Jennings' re-emergence.

C.J. Watson's stellar performance with Derrick Rose injured.

Ricky Rubio's tantalizing passing.

Kyrie Irving's overall terrific play.

New York even had a smaller version of this a few weeks ago when Iman Shumpert started to heat up in the middle of January.

The fact is, basketball fans, and all sports fans for that matter, just like to hear the story of the guy who was nothing a few weeks ago but is setting the sports world on fire today. Who doesn't?

I'm sure if you get down to the core, there are some people out there who do like Lin because he's Asian and playing well, but what's so wrong with that? It's enjoyable to see people who seem like they don't belong playing well.

It's why Brian Scalabrine gets cheered as much as he does, why guys like Jamie Moyer or Tim Wakefield get attention in baseball because they're so old, or why guys like Darren Sproles, Maurice Jones-Drew and Ray Rice are entertaining in the NFL because of their small stature.

Sure, I don't speak for the majority of America, but if someone like Mo Charlo (hell yea I'm droppin' Mo's name here) gets signed by the Kings or if Josh Bostic (gotta give props to a fellow WHS alum) comes over from Belgium to sign a deal and ends up doing anything similar to what Lin does, I'm going to be just as impressed.

Hell, if they can do half of what Lin did and I'll give them their props, because Lin has been absolutely on fire.

Lin put up 109 points in his first four starts, has scored at least 20 points and had seven assists in each of those starts and suddenly the best first four starts since the NBA/ABA merger has turned from being something celebrated to being a controversy.

Mayweather tried to defend himself after he tweeted at first, saying things like, "I'm speaking on behalf of other NBA players," and "Other countries get to support/cheer their athletes and everything is fine. As soon as I support Black American athletes, I get criticized."

How about instead of trying to speak for 400 other guys (they have their varied opinions as well, I'm sure) and saying criticism of Lin is you supporting black athletes, just sit down and enjoy the game.