Washington, D.C. (The Adobo Chronicles) –President Barack Obama has just announced the appointment of NBA player Jeremy Shu-hou Lin as new ambassador to the People’s Republic of China.  If confirmed by the Senate, the basketball star will replace current Ambassador Max Sieben Baucus who is stepping down after just seven months in his position.  Baucus is quitting because he says he is extremely homesick and wants to go back to his home in Montana.

Lin, who currently plays with the Los Angeles Lakers, became an international sensation in 2012 when he unexpectedly led a winning streak by the New York Knicks in that year’s NBA season.  This started the “Linsanity” craze in the U.S. and abroad.

In announcing the appointment, Obama said that there is no one who could better fill the shoes of Baucus than Lin.  “Although he was born in America, the Chinese people can very well identify with him because of his lineage,” Obama said.

White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest told reporters that the president is well aware that the Chinese are very fond of basketball and hopes that Lin’s dribbling, guarding and shooting skills will further endear the Chinese to the United States of America.

There was earlier speculation that Obama was considering appointing Dennis Rodman, given the flamboyant basketball player’s demonstrated diplomatic skills in his meetings with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un.  However, Obama decided on Lin because he believes that the Chinese will take him more seriously than Rodman.

Lin, 26, will make history as the youngest U.S. Ambassador, eclipsing the previous record held by John Huntsman, Jr. who was appointed by President George H.W. Bush in 1992 as ambassador to Singapore.  Huntsman was 32.