Jeremy Lin Subtly Burns Kenyon Martin For Criticizing His Dreadlocks

Jeremy Lin has been showing off a lot of hairstyles in the past couple of seasons with the Charlotte Hornets and the Brooklyn Nets. Entering his second season in Brooklyn, Lin shocked some people by rocking dreadlocks during the Nets training camp. One of the people that were unhappy is former Nets player, Kenyon Martin.

In a video posted on Instagram(h/t Nets Daily), Martin criticized Lin for having dreadlocks. The 39-year-old retired player slammed the Asian-American guard for trying to be black. Martin continued by saying that Lin would not have made it on a team with him because of his dreadlocks.

“Do I need to remind this damn boy his last name Lin. Like, come on, man. Let’s stop it with these people. There is no way possible he would’ve made it on one of our teams with that bulls*** on his head. Come on man, somebody need to tell him like, ‘Alright bro, we get it. You wanna be black.’ Like, we get it. But your last name is Lin.”

Jeremy Lin explained in a piece on The Player’s Tribune the reason why he decided to change his hairstyle to dreadlocks. Lin noted that it’s not his intention to appropriate black culture and he looks at it as learning about the culture instead.

After Kenyon Martin’s video was released, a lot of people heavily criticized him for being a racist towards Jeremy Lin. Some people even explained that dreadlocks did not originate in the black culture but from ancient Greece. Lin, who is a Harvard graduate, had a subtle response to Martin and he perfectly put the ex-Net in his place.

“At the end of the day, I appreciate that I have dreads and you have Chinese tattoos (because) I think it’s a sign of respect,” Lin wrote on Instagram(h/t ESPN). “And I think as minorities, the more that we appreciate each other’s cultures, the more we influence mainstream society. Thanks for everything you did for the Nets and hoops. Had your poster up on my wall growin up.”

Martin, on the other hand, posted another video on Instagram after drawing a lot of flak for his comments towards Jeremy Lin. He explained that his comments about Lin were just jokes and has nothing to do with race. Martin also noted he just did not like Lin rocking dreadlocks but he is free to use any hairstyle he wants.

The former NBA All-Star played a total of 15 seasons in the league including four years with the Nets. He also played for the Denver Nuggets, Los Angeles Clippers, New York Knicks and Milwaukee Bucks. He retired from the NBA in 2015 but he played in Ice Cube’s BIG3 League this year.

Jeremy Lin has used a lot of different hairstyles in the past couple of years. His hairstyles got noticed in his lone season with the Charlotte Hornets back in 2015. According to GQ Magazine, some of the hairstyles Lin has done include braids, bowl cut, comb-over, slicked-back, the headband, a man-bun, Mohawk, ponytail and double ponytail.

[Featured Image by Abbie Parr/Getty Images]