Visiting NBA star Jeremy Lin (林書豪) joined a four-day basketball summer camp in Taipei yesterday, during which he is to act as chief coach to teach children some skills and promote the sport.
“We’re gonna have a blast this week,” said Lin, the first NBA player of Taiwanese descent, at the opening of the camp. “The biggest thing we want to teach these kids is to have fun playing basketball.”
Aiming to make the camp educational and interesting, the 24-year-old point guard also invited his friend David Lee, power forward and center for the Golden State Warriors, to share his insights at the camp.
Photo: Chien Jung-fong, Taipei Times
“I’m very excited to have a chance to come over here to spread the love for basketball across the world over here in Taiwan,” the 29-year-old Lee said.
Lin’s shooting coach, Doc Scheppler, along with Lin’s older brother, Joshua, and strength coach, Josh Fan, will also be on hand to break down every move and action to help 60 elementary school students hone their skills. After the four-day event, Lin will hold a private charity event on Friday and attend a sponsor’s event the next day.
Lin will join an evangelical gathering hosted by a local TV station on Sunday before returning to the US the following day.
Event organizers said in a statement that these activities may be canceled out of safety concerns if the media tried to document Lin’s trip in “dangerous ways,” such as driving fast in pursuit of Lin, filming out of sunroofs or getting out of cars to snap photographs at red lights.
The NBA sensation paid a short visit to Taipei earlier this month, during which local media kept a close eye on every move Lin and his family made.
Lin, whose meteoric rise early this year with the New York Knicks attracted widespread attention, signed a three-year, US$25.1 million contract with the Houston Rockets last month, after the Knicks failed to match the offer.
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