Believe it or not, equal representation does not have to be about identity politics. Wanting to see more art that reflects more people, and wanting more people to see themselves reflected in more stories, is not inherently ideological — it’s compassionate and artistic. The representation of more subsections of humanity in storytelling and the media lends itself to more experiences to explore, wider audiences, and a proclivity for growth.

Of course, when it’s reduced to mere marketing, quotas, profit, and other cynical incentives, it can be understandably reprehensible, but ultimately, more representation is a win-win, at least when divorced from the hateful discourse of ‘us versus them’ politics. This applies to sports just as much as other media, like film, television, literature, and journalism. Sports tell a story, and some of the best are underdog stories. That’s the tale of Jeremy Lin, a Taiwanese-American prodigy who was superiorly gifted at sports, something which all those opponents of equal representation in favor of meritocracy should respect.

Sports are perhaps the purest medium of skill, and yet, representation has a hard time expanding even there. While the rest of life is hardly a meritocracy, with everything depending on the genetic lottery of who you were born to, where, and when, sports are supposed to be an even playing field, quite literally. The most talented should objectively excel. Lin was one of the most talented in basketball, but as an Asian man, he was often discredited. That’s exactly what 38 at the Garden, an Oscar-shortlisted documentary streaming on HBO Max, explores, and it does so with energy, humor, and finesse. Its producer, the writer and documentarian Travon Free, spoke to MovieWeb about the short film.

Travon Free Moves from an Oscar-Winning Short Film to Another Awards Contender

Free is a rather unique artist. His experience writing (and winning Emmy Awards and a Peabody) for The Daily Show and Full Frontal with Samantha Bee show that he can tackle the real-life stuff of documentaries, but with levity and a distinct perspective, despite some of his racier jokes in the past. His Oscar-winning short film Two Distant Strangers displayed his ability to transform his passion for social justice and admiration of pre-existing properties into a dynamic, powerful narrative. His career in basketball and writing for the sports show Any Given Wednesday with Bill Simmons aligned these skills with his love of sports.

All of this coalesces in 38 at the Garden, which chronicles Lin’s career before and after his groundbreaking game against Kobe Bryant and the Lakers on Feb. 10th, 2012. Using interviews with a variety of people (including Hasan Minhaj, Ronny Chiend, Jenny Yang, Tyson Chandler, Lisa Ling, and Lin himself), the documentary from director Frank Chi explores the power of ‘Linsanity’ and what that meant to the Asian community.

Jeremy Lin’s 38-Point Game at the Garden

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Free, who had spent a lot of his career writing about and depicting the Black experience and fighting for that representation, explains why he went all in on a story about Asian representation.

“It was born out of a conversation where, during COVID back in 2020, we were talking about the most impossible things we’ve seen in our lives up to then,” explained Free. “I was 35 at that point, and both of us are Obama kids in the sense that he worked for Obama and I voted for him. So, we both agree that [the Obama presidency] was probably the most impossible thing we have witnessed in our short lives, of things that society kind of tells you aren’t supposed to happen are impossible, and then they happen. They shatter this kind of like glass ceiling, so to speak.”

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“For Frank,” continued Free, “he said to me, ‘As an Asian person, the other thing for me is ‘Linsanity.’ That was the thing I never thought I would see, my friends and I never thought we’d ever see the day when an Asian-American man would dominate the NBA.’ And he starts telling me the story of taking the train from DC to New York to go and try to see that 38-point game against the Lakers, and how they were scalping tickets for 700 bucks, and he definitely wasn’t paying that. And he told me the story of everything he had done that night, and how he watched the game at a bar in Koreatown with a bunch of people who look like him. And as he’s telling me this story, I’m just seeing it in my head. I’m like, ‘This is a movie.’ How has no one told this story from the perspective of the people who are most affected by it, the community who it was so important to?”

In this way, one can see that representation is not simply about one specific group gaining visibility, but about the fight for all people to be represented. It’s a veritable Boston Tea Party of cultural inclusion, and it’s downright intersectional.

The Importance of Linsanity Was About Representation

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“When we started talking to people, you really got to see that this was huge, like this is really, really important,” continued Free. “One of the guys told us the three most important days of his life — the day he got married, the day his child was born, and the day Jeremy Lin dropped 38 on the Lakers in Madison Square. That’s huge, for that to be that important to someone, and across the board, everyone kept telling us about how this period in time as an Asian-American gave them the courage to do things they just never felt like they could do.” Free elaborated:

Frank talks about how a lot of people, if you’re an Asian-American, you’re raised to be a certain way, to think a certain way, and to do a certain thing. And if you try to break out of that, it’s not normal. It’s not typical. And so a lot of times, you have to find the courage to go against culture, to go against your parents, to go against the thing you’ve been told to do when you feel like doing something else. And everybody we talked to had that same experience.

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“It was important to recognize that there were people who you and I might see every day, in jobs that we think of as stereotypically belonging to a certain community, and you think — how many people wish they were doing something else? And not just service-level jobs, we’re talking about doctors, lawyers, and big-time accountants who are making a lot of money and are probably unhappy at the core, said Free, and the intersectional, empathetic element reveals itself poignantly here for him, who can personally relate to this.

“I get to do the thing that I love,” explained Free. “It’s very similar. In Black households, like, I don’t do a conventional thing. There was a long period of time when I was trying to make something of myself, where people in my family were telling me to get a job, telling me to get a regular, quote-unquote real job. And those conversations are a lot different now. [38 at the Garden] opened my eyes to how deeply personal and important this story was, and to kind of just look around and think about where else is this happening? Who else is having a similar experience? Like, I think women have this experience all the time. No matter what race you are, just being a woman comes with all the same types of stereotypes and judgments and lack of belief in their ability to do something simply for being female.”

Sports Can Transcend a History of Exclusion

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Free has a pretty eloquent and accurate understanding of intersectional representation and why it’s important after a history of exclusion, as well as how sports tie into it all. “It’s tied to the fact that society, for centuries in this country, in particular, has decided what’s valuable and who’s valuable, and in what ways,” said Free. “There are a lot of historically excluded people from a lot of places and a lot of arenas in this country. And a lot of people are starting to just find their way into and get access to spaces and places they never could have in the history of this country.” Free continued:

It’s perpetuated by people who refuse to accept the fact that the world is moving forward and opening up, and giving people room to be who they’ve always been. And it’s not that these different types of people and identities are new. It’s just that they never had an opportunity to be free, to be visible. Like, ‘gay’ wasn’t invented in the ’70s. Trans people didn’t just show up 10 years ago. People have been hiding who they are for centuries, and I think that when you have to exist in a space that is predominantly white, or predominantly male, or predominantly the thing you aren’t, there’s a lot that comes with that — how you’re perceived, what you’re capable of.

While certainly infested with similar problems, the sports world has the capacity to transcend this in a way that few other systems with longevity can, something that 38 at the Garden explores with smart subtlety. “The thing I love about sports is that it has so many universal elements to it,” said Free. “It’s objective — it’s winners and losers. There’s a team aspect, whether you’re looking at it from a fan’s perspective or you’re playing the game […] I love telling sports stories because it’s inspiring, and you get to really show people that there’s a space where, no matter what color you are, or no matter what your background is, you’re either good enough or you’re not, you can either outscore LeBron or you can’t, you can either beat Messi or Ronaldo, or you can’t.”

“I love those themes. Those themes permeate life in so many different ways. And so, you look at Jeremy’s story,” mused Free, “and all these things intersect into real-life, everyday experience.” Jeremy Lin’s story isn’t just a sports story, and 38 at the Garden isn’t just an Asian story. This is about all of us. 38 at the Garden is produced by GTG Entertainment, Golden State Entertainment, Mr. Fahrenheir, and rubbertape, and is currently streaming on HBO Max.