Jeremy Lin is a point guard for the New York Knicks of the NBA. Almost overnight, Lin has become a star in the NBA - an unlikely scenario given his background and ethnicity. Most stars in the NBA come from powerhouse college basketball programs such as Kentucky, UCLA, Duke, Syracuse and Michigan State. Lin attended Harvard and unlike most of his peers, was undrafted. The chances of a undrafted college player from an Ivy League school making the roster of an NBA team and succeeding are miniscule. The last Harvard player to play in the NBA was Ed Smith in 1954.
Lin is one of the few Asian Americans in NBA history, and the first American player in the league to be of Chinese descent. Lin follows in the footsteps of Yao Ming, the easily recognizable 7'6" center from China. Yao Ming, now retired from the NBA, gained a strong following during his career with the Houston Rockets after he became the first international player ever to be selected first overall without having previously played U.S. college basketball. Yao is considered one of China's best known athletes.
Lin is certainly getting some respect from some of basketball's leading lights. Hall of Fame player Magic Johnson commented.
He is for real. For real.
L.A. Lakers Superstar
Kobe Bryant said after their recent loss to Lin and the Knicks.
Players don’t usually come out of nowhere. If you can go back and take a look, his skill level was probably there from the beginning. But no one ever noticed.
Follow me below the croissant for some thoughts about the amazing story of Jeremy Lin and why Linsanity is a fast moving infection here and worldwide.
I think many of us have fantasies of being put into an important situation (especially in sports) and wildly exceeding everyone's expectations. As youth, we might dream of making the winning shot in the final seconds of a Final Four basketball game, or throwing the winning touchdown on the final play of the Super Bowl championship game and hitting a walk off home run to win the World Series. Or delivering an important presentation to a prospective client that wins your firm an unexpected new contract. Or giving a speech of a lifetime when you are thrust into a national stage.
In politics, Barack Obama is an obvious example. We all saw that he demonstrated great potential as a political leader when he gave that amazing speech at the 2004 Democratic Convention. When Obama's campaign to become the Democratic nominee was in serious trouble after his pastor's fiery speeches came to light, he gave one of the most compelling speeches ever about race relations in our nation. It was a major turning point in his campaign and in his career.
The New York Giants did not have a very impressive start to this football season before catching fire and winning the Super Bowl. But when the season was on the line, Eli Manning, Giants quarterback and team leader, stepped up and willed his team to victory with incredible performances in the 4th quarter where most games are won or lost. Now, having beat future Hall of Fame quarterback Tom Brady of the Patriots, twice in two attempts at the Super Bowl, Eli has moved his name into the conversation as being one of the elite quarterbacks of his generation. When the spotlight was on Eli during the world's biggest sporting stage, he delivered and was named MVP.
Of course, Tim Tebow became a household name this year. When Tebow took over as the starting quarterback of the Denver Broncos this season, his team was 1-4 and going nowhere. Many sports analysts did not believe that he had the skills needed to be a premiere quarterback in the NFL. But he got the job done, took his team to playoffs before losing to the Patriots and silenced the naysayers and even got the attention of Jimmy Fallon. As a born again Christian, Tebow endeared himself to many on the religious right.
The reason that the Jeremy Lin story is compelling to me and probably many others is that I know what it feels like to be the 4th string point guard on a sports team and never given the chance to play. When I was in the 10th Grade, I decided to try out for the basketball team. To this day, I'm not sure why I tried out but I did have a passion for the game and wanted to see what it would be like to play on a school team.
Now to be sure, I was the shortest and skinest guy on the team and not particularly talented. In those days, everyone who came to practices made the team but you won't necessarily play a lot. I remember getting in to play the occasional game maybe in the final minutes when the game was already decided. There was one memorable game where most of my team mates fouled out and I was the last player to come off the bench.
Well, the game was pretty close right until the final minutes. One of the opposing players was fouled and he was given two free throws and we were tied at that point in the game. He made the first free throw and missed the second one. I jumped into the key and secured the rebound and started down the court. But an opposing player reached in and fouled me and I was sent to the foul line. Two free throws to win the game - from the player my coach least wanted to shoot them!
Well guess what happened? I made both free throws and we won the game. Hero for a day. I never forget the feeling of being lifted up on the shoulders of my teammates. The school principal made the annoucement over the P.A. system the next day that I had made the winning shot for the team. I definitely got more respect from my teammates and coach for the rest of the season and I was proud that I could make a difference for our side.
I am sure that there are a lot of fans who can appreciate the many barriers that Lin had to overcome to even make the roster of an NBA team let only excel. The Ivy League background, racial stereotyping, undrafted status, and without a stand out physical attribute like Yao's stature.
A week ago, no one in the world had heard of Jeremy Lin. The odds for Jeremy Lin to be a big name star in the NBA were about as good as the chances of Newt Gingrich winning the Presidency. Now, he has taken the sporting world by storm and they probably can't make enough LIN T-Shirts to sell at his home games. Let the LINsanity continue.
Tue Feb 14, 2012 at 8:44 PM PT: Well, for those who thought that Lin is a flash in the pan. Lin has helped his Knicks win six in a row on a last second winning shot over the Toronto Raptors in front of a sell out arena. Are you now all Lin?