Wataru-sanity! The Jeremy Lin of 1948
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Lin shoots. Lin scores. We yawn. The media has written reams about the scrappy, high-scoring Knicks point guard in the last two weeks. If and when he disappoints, they’ll write a veritable Jeremiad (or perhaps a Lin-iad) about the guy.
We at the Bureau aren’t bandwagon types, so we were going to keep our mouths shut. That is, until we found a promising new angle on the story … in Ogden, Utah, in 1923. Wataru “Wat” Misaka was born then and there, grew to a towering five-foot-seven, and played as the first Asian-American (and first non-Caucasian) in the NBA — in the 1947–8 season for the New York Knickerbockers.
What a co-Lin-cidence.
Wat’s jersey may not be hanging from the rafters at Madison Square Garden, but Jeremy Lin is certainly playing in his comparably diminutive shadow. And Misaka may not have been a paragon of style, but he certainly earns a starting spot in today’s lineup.
ITEM: Antique basketball mask
SUITABLE FOR: Making Rip Hamilton seem normal
NOT SUITABLE FOR: Earning a 15-yard penalty
PRICE: $14.95
See more postwar baller essentials here.
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