When you look at Jeremy Lin, what do you see?

Maybe it’s the improbable runners off glass, the uncanny ability to create space in the lane, or a light brown hand dangling in the air after sinking a game-winner.

What do I see when I look at Jeremy Lin?

An effect, not a cause.

In case you haven’t heard, which is impossible if you have turned on your television or computer in the past week, Jeremy Lin is the latest sensation in sports. A Harvard grad that was not recruited as a prep, Lin languished in the NBA D-League before finally getting his shot with the Knicks only because of injuries. In his first five starts, he scored more points than any player in NBA history and has the Knicks on a seven game win streak. Oh, and he happens to be Taiwanese.

As much as anything, sports are about a look; one that exudes confidence and demands respect from opponents.

That look is not one typically associated with Asian-Americans, a group that is often stereotyped as meek, more likely to be found buried in a book than with the ball when the game is on the line.

But travel around the courts and fields on the Eastside and you will soon realize Jeremy Lin is not the reason young people of Asian descent will begin changing that perception through athletics.

He is the evidence they already have.

At Interlake, Kamana Adriano quarterbacked the Saints to the 2A state quarterfinals. During the winter he took to the court for the basketball team and when the spring season rolls around, he will play baseball.

Across town at Bellevue, John Nguyen was the latest in a long line of brothers to tote the rock for the Wolverines and bring home a state title. His brother David is at the University of Montana and scored six touchdowns in 2011.

Eastlake’s Edward Kim is one of the most decorated swimmers in the state already as a sophomore and will continue his quest for eight individual state championships today.

Every single girl on Newport’s 2011 tennis team was Asian.

The United States Census Bureau lists Asians as the most common ethnic minority in Washington at just over seven percent of the population. Nationally, the number of Asians grew an astounding ninety-six percent from 1980-90 and over sixty-three percent from 1990-2000, by far the most of any racial group during that time.

Lin’s gradual ascent to NBA starter and national media phenomenon has stunned the experts and confounded conventional wisdom about the look of a star.

But those of us around the Greater Eastside prep sports scene have a different perspective.

After all, we see star athletes that look like Lin every day. And more could be on the way soon.

For the love of the game is a Reporter column written by sports reporter Josh Suman. Call Josh at 425-453-5045.