NBA: Kenyon Martin apologizes to Jeremy Lin for ‘racial remark’ about his hair
Brooklyn Nets guard Jeremy Lin is perhaps best known for two things: his daredevil drives to the hoop and his penchant for rocking multiple hairstyles.
The 29-year-old Asian-American point guard recently unveiled his boldest choice yet—a set of bushy dreadlocks, which is most often sported by African-American athletes.
His choice of new hairstyle caught the ire of retired NBA forward Kenyon Martin who accused the Harvard graduate of “wanting to be black.”
Lin quipped back with a reverent response, claiming he did it out of respect for the black culture and also pointed out Martin’s tattoo bearing Chinese characters.
In a video uploaded by TMZ, the 14-year NBA veteran apologized to Lin, but claimed his new hairdo still looked ridiculous.
He also explained that his comments were supposed to be light-hearted, but was eventually blown out of proportion by some netizens.
“This was never meant to be racial. It was thought of as what would’ve been done in our locker room,” Martin said in a separate report from Sports Illustrated. “It would’ve been jokes. We would’ve been making jokes.”
The one-time NBA All-Star added that Lin is a grown man who could style his hair whichever he pleased.
“He has the right to rock any hairstyle he wants. It got out of control. It wasn’t meant to be anything more than banter,” he explained.
“Jeremy is an athlete and I would hope he understood that this was in fun and not to offend and as long as he’s not offended that’s all that matters. I wish him well.”
Martin added that he already reached out to Lin personally, but continues to receive negative comments from people online.
“People were sending messages to my son. Like, no. Say whatever to me and about me. I have thick skin. I know what my intentions were,” Martin said. “But then those are the things that are coming across. You n**ga this. Your n**ga that.”
Aside from his Player’s Tribune piece about cultural appropriation, Lin also detailed the matter further to Brooklyn Nets reporter Anthony Puccio. Khristian Ibarrola /ra
Jeremy Lin spoke extensively about Kenyon Martin’s comments after the game: pic.twitter.com/JaDH1Du8V0
— Anthony Puccio (@APOOCH) October 6, 2017
