Despite the Oscar’s lack of diversity, comedian Chris Rock exploited the controversial issue to the hilt as the host of this year’s biggest event in Hollywood. The actor successfully turned a divisive issue into a comic relief.
But the comedian also made a joke about Asians when he introduced three Asian kids during the Oscars broadcast as accountants of Pricewaterhouse Coopers. The actor said that the accounting firm sent the Oscars their most dedicated, accurate, and hard-working representatives.
As if knowing that he will get a backlash from his joke-bashing of Asians, Chris Rock added that if anybody is upset about that joke, they can just tweet it on their phone, which was probably made by the same Asian kids.
Jeremy Lin did just that. He posted on Twitter and asked when shall the situation change for the better. He added that he is tired of notions that it is cool or okay to bash Asians.
It is likely that Chris Rock was just joking at the Oscars when he said those words and his intention was basically to make the audience laugh and has no inkling of bashing any entity.
A disappointing perception
When asked about his February 29 tweet during the Charlotte Hornets’ practice on March 1, Lin said that he thought it was a chance for him to stand up for Asians. He explained that he just feels like sometimes the way people perceive Asians or Asian Americans today can be disappointing in the way they view them, cites the Los Angeles Times.
The 27-year-old Harvard graduate added that in acting, Asian roles always seem to be similar. He said that the perception should be broader than that. Perception, according to Lin, is reality and that’s the truth in today’s day and age where it is such a digital and technological edge.
The Charlotte Hornets backup guard really finds it weird that an Oscars show with a heavy emphasis on diversity would include a skit that Jeremy Lin and several others have really felt to have stereotyped Asians, cites the Charlotte Observer.
Jeremy also explained that he has no ill feelings against Chris Rock but he said that the Academy Awards host should have been more circumspect with standards or respect to all ethnicities.
Benefitting from the trade
Exactly on the NBA trading deadline on February 18, the Charlotte Hornets consummated a trade that sent shooting guard / small forward P.J. Hairston to Memphis Grizzlies in exchange for shooting guard / small forward Courtney Lee.
It is obvious that it was the Charlotte Hornets who benefitted from the trade given the vast playoff experience of Courtney Lee playing for the Grizzlies.
The Hornets also needed to pull the trigger to the trade because its prolific small forward Michael Kidd-Gilchrist has suffered a re-injury after successfully making a comeback late in January. It is likely that Kidd-Gilchrist is out for the remainder of the season.
Injuries to key players have been plaguing the Charlotte Hornets almost all season long so while they have won big games against top teams in the league, they also lost to the not-so-tough teams in the league, all because often, their lineup is not complete.
Nicolas Batum has had a string of minor injuries during the current season and had to miss several games. Kemba Walker has also been out for a couple of games. Jeremy Lin also went down during some games because of injury.
Jeremy Lin sprained his ankle in December, which kept him out of some games in January.