Jeremy Lin: Lunch Date with Writer of Infamous Headline Proves He's a Class Act

Jeremy Lin is a busy guy—playing point guard for the New York Knicks and trying to recover from a sore knee in time to make one last run toward the playoffs understandably leaves him with little free time.

But he still made time to have lunch with the ESPN editor who rather infamously posted a story about Lin featuring a racially insensitive headline. And that's exactly why Lin is the kind of player who's worth idolizing.

Last month, following a game in which the Knicks point guard's nine turnovers cost his team the game against the Hornets, ESPN's mobile site ran a headline that seemed to take a dig at Lin's Asian-American heritage.

The editor, Anthony Federico, was fired from his job in the aftermath, and Lin simply shrugged off the hubbub, accepting an apology from the editor and showing little interest in dwelling on—or even talking about—the incident.

Federico told the Los Angeles Times' Chuck Schilken that since the incident, Lin's family has reached out to him to try to arrange a meeting between the two. It finally happened on Tuesday, and afterward, Federico raved about the Knicks' new-found hero, saying his insensitive headline—an "honest mistake"—barely even came up.

Federico told the LA Times:

"

The fact that he reached out to me. … The fact that he took the time to meet with me in his insanely busy schedule. … He's just a wonderful, humble person. He didn't have to do that. ... We talked more about matters of faith [and] reconciliation. We talked about our shared Christian values and what we're both trying to do with this situation. We didn't talk about the headline for more than three minutes.

"

The fact that Lin accepted Federico's initial apology was enough. The fact that he wasn't interested in harping on the incident in the media was impressive. But the fact that he went out of his way to make sure this editor knew there were no hard feelings is going far above and beyond the call of duty.

It's more than impressive; it's truly admirable.

Today, most of the world's most recognizable athletes keep to themselves. There are many who say or do anything they need to in order to get a rise out of the media or the fans. There are some who are so focused on winning that they are totally oblivious to the happenings in the world around them.

There are very few like Lin, who are so utterly grounded and genuinely kind that they'll take the time to respond to a video request for a graduation speech, or to make things right with an editor who lost his job over an unfortunate oversight.

Whether or not the headline really was a mistake doesn't matter to Lin. He, it appears, couldn't care less. He wasn't calling for justice or consequences after the article was published.

It was a headline.

There are more important things in the world, and Lin isn't interested in wasting time harping on this.

Lin's peers in the sports world could learn a thing or two from him.