The U.S.-born Lin 's rise from obscurity has reached Taiwan , then China . Not since Yao Ming has a basketball player of Asian descent sparked so much interest . Only last year Lin had posted on Twitter that he was mistaken for a trainer . Not since Yao Ming , the now-retired Houston Rockets center and now owner of the Chinese Basketball Association 's Shanghai Sharks , has a basketball player of Asian roots sparked so much interest . Lin accepts ESPN 's apology for repeated incidents of an ethnic minority .
The U.S.-born Lin 's rise from obscurity has reached Taiwan , then China . Not since Yao Ming has a basketball player of Asian descent sparked so much interest . Only last year Lin had posted on Twitter that he was mistaken for a trainer . Lin accepts ESPN 's apology for repeated incidents of an ethnic minority .