LOS ANGELES – US sports network giant ESPN has apologized for an “offensive” headline that appeared on one of its web pages after Jeremy Lin’s New York Knicks suffered a loss after winning seven straight.
ESPN was forced to apologize Saturday for an anti-Asian slur directed at Chinese-American Lin that appeared in a story on its website for mobile users, the Chicago Tribune reported.
The headline “Chink in the Armor” was included in the online story about Lin’s role in the 89-85 loss to the New Orleans Hornets.
ESPN called the headline “offensive” in a statement. It said in the statement it was “conducting a complete review of our cross-platform editorial procedures and are determining appropriate disciplinary action to ensure this does not happen again. We regret and apologize for this mistake.”
ESPN said that the headline appeared to only mobile browsers for a 35-minute period.
The Knicks have been on a magical run since former part-time player Lin was called upon with two starters missing and answered with the most points of any NBA player in his first five starts since the NBA and ABA merged in 1976.