Jeremy Lin Pledges to Donate Up to $1M for Coronavirus Relief Efforts

Former NBA point guard Jeremy Lin announced Monday he was pledging up to $1 million as a way to highlight "organizations that are shining a light into the darkness" during the coronavirus pandemic.

Lin wrote in a piece for The Players' Tribune that he'll contribute $500,000 to the Direct Relief and Feeding America organizations, and he'll match up to $500,000 of additional donations.

"Each act of goodness matters. Each positive choice will add up," he wrote. "In adversity, we will persevere. In challenges, we will overcome. In fear, we will have faith. And in darkness, we will be Light."

The 31-year-old California native skyrocketed to a brief period of superstardom with the New York Knicks during the 2011-12 season. The Linsanity phenomenon of 2012 made him one of the most talked-about athletes in all of sports.

In The Players' Tribune article, Lin, who has Taiwanese parents, explained that many of his Asian-American friends are now dealing with racism and discrimination.

"This is deeply personal for me," he wrote. "People who I love very much, my own friends and family in America, are genuinely scared to leave their homes. At a time when Asian Americans are just as affected and anxious as anyone else about the crisis, they have to deal with this added layer of fear?!?"

The racism concerns come amid a debate about the origin of the coronavirus, which saw its first major outbreak in Wuhan, China.

The 6'4" guard now plays for the Beijing Ducks in the Chinese Basketball Association after a nomadic NBA career that included stops with eight teams, including the Los Angeles Lakers and Golden State Warriors. He won an NBA championship with the Toronto Raptors last year.

Like the NBA, the CBA has been postponed indefinitely because of COVID-19.

"Truth is, we have it in us to be the light, because there are already millions choosing to be the light every day," Lin wrote. "No one knows how devastating the impact of this crisis will be, but the projections aren't good. We're going to be recovering from this for a long time. But in the process, there will be so, so many opportunities to choose light."

He added, "At the end of all this, we will take a long look in the mirror, and we won't be able to lie to ourselves about how we acted."