Boxer Floyd Mayweather says Lin hype about race

Floyd Mayweather rarely holds his tongue. Or shy away from racist remarks. Just ask Manny Pacquiao. (Not that it has got them together for a fight.)

So maybe we shouldn’t be shocked when Mayweather tweeted today:

“Jeremy Lin is a good player but all the hype is because he’s Asian. Black players do what he does every night and don’t get the same praise.”

Lin being Asian-American (the first NBA player of Taiwanese descent) has certainly energized one community of fans and boosted his popularity. Him being in New York and helping salvage that franchise’s season certainly has meant more intense hype as well.

But this phenomenon is not about skin color.

No player in NBA history had scored at least 20 points with seven assists in each of his first four starts until Lin came along. He has averaged 27.3 points, 8.3 assists and 2.0 steals in his four starts. His 109 points in those first four starts most by any player since 1976-77.

You get the idea. Lin is blowing up because he is putting up historic numbers — the fact he is doing it on the NBA’s biggest media stage may fuel the hype, but the hype itself is well deserved.

The tweets, that’s just a media hound in Floyd being Floyd.