Chang Says He Has Been Trying to Help Basketball Player

Written by: Staff on 28th February 2012

Chang Says He Has Been Trying to Help Basketball Player |

Michael Chang has revealed that he has offered advice to New York Knick’s point guard Jeremy Lin, who has been taking the NBA by storm, helping him deal with the pressures and media attention that came his way.

“I’ve had some contact with Jeremy,” confirmed Chang while he was competing the ATP Champions Tour event at Delray Beach. “We have kind of a similar background. We’ve both come from a middle class family and I know Jeremy had a really great high school career and obviously did really well at Harvard.

“I think that obviously being Asian-American and also both being of the Christian faith, we have a lot of things in common, so it’s nice to see him break free and do so well. I had some contact with him after he was done at Harvard. He has a mutual friend with my wife and I had the opportunity to talk with him a little bit and encourage him, give him some advice on what it’s like to play professional sports.

“Obviously tennis is a little bit different because it’s an individual sport but the lifestyle of being on the road and on the go all the time and having to deal with a lot of different pressures and circumstances I think is very similar. So it was a good opportunity to guide him a little and I still try to encourage him whenever I can and I would love to see him continue the way he’s going.

“It’s a little bit of a juggling act right now for him I think, with everything that’s going on and all the attention, but I always told myself when I was playing that the most important thing were my expectations of myself. So long as I meet those, it doesn’t matter what other people’s expectations are. And I think that’s important for Jeremy to keep in mind. And I think he does. He’s all about the team and if he plays good and the team still loses then none of it counts, and he really sees that so I think he’s well placed to deal with this all pretty well.”

Topics: Jeremy Lin, Michael Chang