I love how Donald Trump says "I'm not going to say so and so is a fat pig, but people are saying she is. I'm not going to say it. I don't know. But that's what they're saying."

I'm not saying that NBA players are openly racist when it comes to Jeremy Lin, but I could see how people might think that. 

Read this NY Post piece, and then come back. I want to tell you why it's not good. 

First, my reaction to Lin's pay was that it was low. I heard that Hassan Whiteside had gotten a four-year max deal from Miami. And Timofey Mozgov got $64 million from the Lakers. I figure it's okay that Lin only got $36 million for three years, because he wasn't a starter last year, and has had trouble finding a steady place to play, as a starter. 

You don't see very many people of Lin's ethnic heritage in the NBA. 

But that shouldn't matter, right?

But seriously, would Jarrett Jack have said what he said about a white player or one of African-American descent? Wouldn't it sound a bit like sour grapes since the very same team dropped him to make room so Lin could be the Nets' starting point guard? I can understand him feeling angry, betrayed, even sad. But seriously would he have mocked a black player in the same place?

It's not the only criticism the deal has gotten, and I would be okay with it, if they were similarly disrespectful of Whiteside and Mozgov, but I haven't heard that. 

I think the NBA has to say clearly right now that this kind of talk is very dangerous. The NBA has a great reputation for not tolerating discrimination, or even dissension. Coaches and players get fined for criticizing the refs for their calls. They are helping to change the law in North Carolina about transgender people using bathrooms. But the league looks the other way when the players trash talk Lin. And as a fan I hate this. I think it's bad basketball.