Mayweather isn’t ‘Lin-sane’ for Jeremy Lin

MANILA, Philippines – Looks like Linsanity hasn’t caught up with Floyd Mayweather.

The boxer commented on NBA player Jeremy Lin on his official Twitter page on Monday, February 13 (Tuesday, February 14 in Manila), posting a tweet commenting on the hype surrounding the Asian-American athlete.

He wrote on his Twitter account @FloydMayweather, “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.”

Although he was praising Lin in the first part of his post – the apparent racial tone of his tweet set off some negative reactions online. 

Sports websites quickly reported on the post, and social media reacted negatively to his post, particularly on Twitter.

ESPN reports representatives of both Mayweather and Lin have yet to issue comments on the issue.

The remarks of the controversial boxer, who was recently sentenced to serve 90 days in jail for a battery charge, comes as “Linsanity” is spreading in the basketball community.

Lin, a 6’3″ point guard wearing jersey # 17 for the New York Knicks, is one of the NBA’s fastest rising stars. He is a Economics graduate of Harvard, and prior to joining the Knicks, he was with the Golden State Warriors, and was briefly picked up by the Houston Rockets.

Mayweather is no stranger to racially insensitive statements. In September 2010, he had a racist and homophobic rant against Filipino boxing superstar Manny Pacquiao. – Rappler.com