LAS VEGAS - Not every athlete is caught up in the Linsanity.
Unbeaten boxer Floyd Mayweather Jr. has posted a swipe at the New York Knicks' point guard sensation on Twitter.
Mayweather posted on Monday: "Jeremy Lin is a good player but all the hype is because he's Asian. Black players do what he does every night and don't get the same praise."
Lin has led the Knicks to five straight victories, including a 38-point game against the Lakers.
Later, Mayweather took to Twitter to defend his comment.
"Its OK for ESPN to give their opinion but I say something and everyone questions Floyd Mayweather," the boxer tweeted. "I'm speaking my mind on behalf of other NBA players. They are programmed to be politically correct and will be penalized if they speak up."
He later tweeted: "Other countries get to support/cheer their athletes and everything is fine. As soon as I support Black American athletes, I get criticized."
Lin, whose parents emigrated from Taiwan in the 70s, is the first American-born NBA player of Chinese or Taiwanese descent.
Mayweather rarely hesitates to air racially charged opinions, either in person or in social media.
He has repeatedly insulted rival Manny Pacquiao, including an online video in 2010 in which he used racial and homophobic slurs against the Filipino congressman.
Leonard Ellerbe, Mayweather's top adviser, didn't immediately return a phone call.
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