Basketball officials investigate complaint Jeremy Lin was called ‘coronavirus’ on the court

Basketball officials are investigating a complaint from hoops star Jeremy Lin that he has been branded a “coronavirus” as an anti-Asian insult on the court.

Lin, who currently plays for the Santa Cruz Warriors in the NBA G League, described the attack in a Facebook post Thursday in which he condemned the continued racism against the Asian-American community.

“Being a 9-year NBA veteran doesn’t protect me from being called ‘coronavirus’ in the field,” he wrote.

Verbal and physical attacks against Asian Americans have exploded since Donald Trump started scapegoating China for COVID-19, repeatedly and mistakenly calling it the “Chinese virus” and using the racist term “kung flu”.

Last year, Lin criticized Trump’s “anti-Chinese message” for reinforcing “more hatred towards Asians.”

Lin did not provide details in the post about where the name-calling took place. He played in the Orlando, Florida bubble for his team, ESPN noted.

Golden State Warriors coach Steve Kerr has said he would like to see the NBA investigate Lin’s complaint.

Kerr called the Facebook post “really powerful. I applaud Jeremy for his words and echo his sentiments regarding racism against the Asian American community, ”he added.

“It’s so ridiculous and obviously spawned by many people, including our former president, when it comes to the coronavirus that originated in China. It’s just shocking, ”Kerr said.

Lin broke barriers by joining the Golden State Warriors in the 2010-11 season as the first U.S.-born NBA player of Chinese or Taiwanese descent, according to ESPN.

There have been more than 1,800 racist incidents against Asian Americans reported in the United States in a single eight-week period, from March 2020 to May 2020, according to a United Nations investigation last August.