When Jeremy Lin began to knock down shots for the New York Knicks in 2012, many Americans became aware for the first time that Asian Americans actually play basketball. Indeed, long before Lin shook up the NBA, Asian Americans played the game with passion and skill, and many excelled at high school, college and professional hoops. This comprehensive history of Asian American basketball discusses how these players first found a sense of community in the game, and competed despite an atmosphere of anti–Asian bigotry in historical and contemporary America.

Joel S. Franks is a lecturer of Asian American studies and American studies at San Jose State University, and has written several books about Asian American and sports history. He lives in Cupertino, California.

Joel S. Franks
Format: softcover (6 x 9)
Pages: 280
Bibliographic Info: 18 photos, notes, bibliography, index
Copyright Date: 2016
pISBN: 978-0-7864-9718-8
eISBN: 978-1-4766-2049-7
Imprint: McFarland

Table of Contents


Acknowledgments vi

Preface 1

Introduction 9

1. Pre–1945 Ethnic Community Basketball 25

2. Asian American Community Basketball, 1945–1965 66

3. Crossing Sidelines: Asian Americans and Intercultural Basketball to 1945 95

4. Crossing Sidelines, 1945–1965 120

5. Asian American College and Professional Hoops to 1965 139

6. Asian American Hoops, Cosmopolitan Canopies, and Cultural Democracy Since 1965 184

Epilogue: The Lessons of “Linsanity” and Other Musings 223

Chapter Notes 231

References 253

Index 265

“Asian American Basketball provides a strong historical context for understanding the role of basketball in Asian American communities”—Sport in American History.