In the aftermath of Nonito Donaire’s second-round knockout of Fernando Montiel last year at this time, I wrote that Donaire had become arguably the premier Asian-American athlete in the San Francisco Bay Area :
FEB. 21, 2011: You can make a case for Donaire’s being the premier Asian-American athlete in the Bay Area, depending on whether Tim Lincecum (a-fraction-Filipino) counts. Jeremy Lin, Christina Kim -- move over. He may even give Kristi Yamaguchi’s long-term eminence strong competition.
Donaire is still going strong of course, but the San Mateo resident has slipped to No. 2 this week. Jeremy Lin, who last February was a marginal member of the Golden State Warriors, has become a sudden sensation as the starting point guard for the New York Knicks.
Lin has averaged 28.5 points and 8 assists over the past four games, including his 38 points Friday in the Knicks’ 92-85 nationally televised victory over the Los Angeles Lakers. That made him more conspicuous than the Filipino Flash has ever been.
Lin, who starred at Palo Alto High School and at Harvard, has become a household word in American sports, not just the Bay Area, with his thoroughly unexpected breakthrough in New York.
That isn’t to say that Lin is the caliber of star in basketball that Donaire has become in boxing. Manny Pacquiao is the Kobe Bryant of boxing. Floyd Mayweather is the LeBron James of boxing. Donaire then is the Chris Paul of boxing.
But boxing just isn’t as high-profile as basketball in the United States, so Lin clearly has usurped Donaire as the Bay Area’s No. 1 Asian-American athlete.
There’s plenty of room for both of them, but I am hereby eating crow – until, that is, Donaire reaches the greater heights I still believe he will.
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