Every once and awhile a story comes along in the world of professional sports that captures the attention of not only the die-hard fans but the general public as well. This season in the NFL, Denver quarterback Tim Tebow was all the rage, but in the last 10 days or so there has been an even bigger phenomenon in the world of sports and his name is Jeremy Lin.
Lin was a reserve guard on the New York Knicks roster soaking up time on the bench, when an injury to perennial All-Star Carmelo Anthony opened-up a spot for him in the starting lineup. The impact was immediate as he knocked-down 25 points in a 99-92 victory over the New Jersey Nets on Feb.4 to help New York post just its second win in its last seven games.
Two nights later, Lin went 10-for-17 from the floor and 1-for-3 from three point range to tally 28 points in a 99-88 win over Utah. Against Washington last Wednesday, his legend began to grow with 23 points in a 107-93 victory over the Wizards, and Lin became an all-out media sensation when he scored 38 points in a 92-85 win over the Los Angeles Lakers last Friday night. He recorded his fifth-straight 20+ point game this past Saturday as the Knicks ran their current winning streak to five games with a 100-98 victory over Minnesota.
What makes this story so improbable is the fact that Lin was basically written-off as a legitimate basketball player out of high school despite leading Palo Alto to a 32-1 record and California Division II state title. After failing to receive a scholarship to any of the schools from the PAC-10, he decided to go to Harvard as a walk-on because it guaranteed him a spot on the team.
Lin was named to the All-Ivy Second Team as a sophomore and was named to the first team in both his junior and senior year. ESPN pegged Lin as one of the 12 most versatile players in college basketball as a senior, but was completely passed over in the 2010 NBA Draft.
Undeterred, he accepted an invitation to play Summer League with the Dallas Mavericks. After an impressive performance in five games, he was offered a contract by a few teams but decided to sign with the Golden State Warriors in order to play in front of his home-town crowd. Lin was the first American of Chinese decent to ever play in the NBA and became an instant hero with the large Asian-American population in the San Francisco Bay Area. Lin’s stint with the Warriors lasted until the first day of this season’s training camp after they decided to waive him on Dec.9.
The Knicks claimed Lin off waivers on December 27 as a possible third-string guard, but he was assigned to the Erie BayHawks in the NBA’s Developmental League. He was quickly recalled and given a chance to start when Anthony went down with the groin injury. Lin’s overnight success has made him the first player ever to score at least 20 points and seven assists in his first five NBA starts and is already being regarded as the most famous Asian-American player in the history of the league.
On February 4, 2012, Lin had 25 points, five rebounds, and seven assists—all career-highs—in a 99–92 Knicks victory over the New Jersey Nets. After the game, Knick coach Mike D'Antoni said Lin has a point-guard mentality and "a rhyme and a reason for what he is doing out there." In the subsequent game against the Utah Jazz, Lin made his first career start. He had 28 points and eight assists.[89] In a game against the Washington Wizards, Lin had 23 points and career-high 10 assists. It was his first double-double. On February 10, 2012, Lin scored a new career-high 38 points and had seven assists, leading the Knicks in their victory over the Los Angeles Lakers with a score of 92–85. On February 11, Lin scored 20 points and had 8 assists in a narrow 100-98 victory over the Minnesota Timberwolves. This win extended the Knick's win streak to 5 games, and at 13-15, put the team into contention for the 8th playoff spot in the Eastern Conference. Lin scored 89 and 109 points in his first three and four career starts, respectively, the most by any player since the merger between the American Basketball Association (ABA) and the NBA in 1976–77. He is the first NBA player with at least 20 points and seven assists in his first four starts. Lin was named the Eastern Conference Player of the Week after averaging 27.3 points, 8.3 assists and 2.0 steals in those four starts with the Knicks going undefeated.
The Associated Press called Lin "the most surprising story in the NBA." Bloomberg News wrote that Lin "has already become the most famous [Asian American NBA player]." Knicks fans developed nicknames for him along with a new lexicon inspired by his name, Lin. Time.com ran an article titled, "It's Official: Linsanity Is for Real". Hall of Fame player Magic Johnson said, "The excitement [Lin] has caused in [Madison Square] Garden, man, I hadn't seen that in a long time." Lin credited his success to playing without pressure. "I've surrendered that to God. I'm not in a battle with what everybody else thinks anymore," said Lin.
