Who the hell is Jeremy Lin?
Columnist By Ryan O'Connell, 14 Feb 2012 Ryan O'Connell is a Roar Expert
- Tagged:
- Basketball, Jeremy Lin, Kobe Bryant, Los Angeles Lakers, NBA, new york knicks
Knicks' Jeremy Lin, left, chases the loose ball.AP Photo/Jim Mone
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These types of stories are pretty rare in the modern era. A kid no one had even heard of a couple of weeks ago is now the talk of the sporting universe, and rapidly emerging as a legitimate superstar.
His name is Jeremy Lin, and he has become the epitome of the term ‘overnight sensation’.
Lin plays point guard for the New York Knicks in the National Basketball Association (NBA), and his meteoric rise over the last two weeks has been dubbed ‘Linsanity’ by the media.
And make no mistake about it, it has definitely been insane.
I’ve been watching the NBA for 30 years, and I can honestly say that I’ve never seen anything like this in my life. Players don’t just become stars like this. It just doesn’t happen. If you’re good, people know about you. It’s that simple. It’s almost impossible to be good and unknown.
Yet almost no one had ever heard of Lin until a few weeks ago, and he certainly appears to be good.
Lin was undrafted coming out of college. Not surprising, since he attended Harvard, a school more renowned for its academic credentials than its athletic pursuits. In fact, Lin had a G.P.A. of 3.1 and majored in economics.
However, his dream was to play in the NBA, no matter how unrealistic it seemed.
And it certainly seemed unlikely when Lin was cut during the pre-season by the Golden State Warriors, and then again by the Houston Rockets, before latching on with New York. Yet even the Knicks were recently close to severing ties with him.
In the Knicks first 23 games of the season, Lin only saw action in 11 of them, and generally only for a couple of minutes.
However, with the Knicks in big trouble in the standings, along with injury concerns, New York coach Mike D’Antoni rolled the dice and inserted Jeremy Lin into the line-up, hoping the youngster could provide the ailing club with a spark.
What happened next has well and truly exceeded everyone’s expectations.
The Knicks are currently on a five game winning streak, and Lin has been on fire, averaging 26.8 points per game, and 8 assists. His play is the talk of the NBA, and his sudden success was punctuated by a stunning performance on a nationally televised game on ESPN against the Los Angeles Lakers last weekend.
It was widely assumed, especially by me, that Lakers superstar Kobe Bryant, probably one of the top 10 players of all time, was going to annihilate Lin in order to send him and the media message. Lin had received a great deal of media coverage and Bryant and his healthy ego tend to take such things personally.
Instead, it was Lin who made a statement, announcing his arrival as a true star and justifying all the hype by dropping 38 points on Kobe and the Lakers.
I was a cynic before the Lakers game. And a convert after it. Lin made me a believer.
He has a high basketball IQ, youthful enthusiasm, a flair for the dramatic, tremendous poise for someone so young, and an impressive array of skills. Most importantly, his teammates seem to love playing with him, and he makes them better players.
As the first American-born player of Chinese or Taiwanese descent, Lin ascension is re-opening doors in Asia that some feared to be closing in the wake of Yao Ming’s retirement.
He’s become an instant fan favourite at Madison Square Garden, and an internet sensation, increasing his Twitter followers from fewer than 10,000 to nearly 200,000 in the week since taking over the starting job. More people have mentioned him on Twitter than LeBron James.
His No. 17 Knicks jersey is the league’s top seller over the last nine days. And New York is rolling.
It’s a story more befitting a Disney movie, and another reminder that just when you think you’ve seen everything in sport, along comes a Jeremy Lin.
You can follow Ryan on Twitter @RyanOak.
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- Basketball, Jeremy Lin, Kobe Bryant, Los Angeles Lakers, NBA, new york knicks
February 14th 2012 @ 8:37am
sledgeross said | February 14th 2012 @ 8:37am | Report comment
Watched the last few game highlights and agree Ryan. Im afraid I stereotyped Lin when the Warriors drafted him, smart Asian guy to dominates the team at an academic school, he would struggle in showtime. Wow, that shows why you shouldnt steroetype!
AS Hubie Brown alluded, his a big PG, 6’3 200 pounds, hes big enough to take a hit, he can shoot and has better than expected quickness. Be interesting to see if the lauded Jimmer Fredette can have similar impact.
February 14th 2012 @ 9:23am
Basketballguru said | February 14th 2012 @ 9:23am | Report comment
I’m struggling to believe what I am seeing out there .
Like Ryno , I’ve been watching the NBA for 30 years , and I don’t recall a story like it .
He’s a decent talent . He’s making others better ( guys like Jared Jeffries and Steve Novak have never played better ) . He’s formed a great offensive connection with Tyson Chandler . . Heck , he even had Hubie Brown salivating on the weekend , and he’s one of the most critical commentators in the game . I like his energy , his enthusiasm and he’s humble and he’s a smart bugger . He called Mike D’Antoni an offensive genius is his latest press conference . And he wins . So far .
I’m surprised they didn’t put Kobe on him during the Lakers game to be honest . Fisher is getting old out there . Kobe takes this stuff personally – would have owned him if given the opportunity .
The Minnesota Timberwolves on Sunday , in the 2nd half at least , had him sort of worked out . Will be interesting to see how he goes against some better point guards.
So far he’s had to contend with Deron Williams ( playing completely detached at the Nets ) , Devin Harris ( out of sorts ) , John Wall ( completely out of sorts ) , Derek Fisher ( too old ) , and Ricky Rubio ( first real test , probably played him even ) .
When guys like Rose , Westbrook , Paul and co come to town , we’ll see . But it’s a great story . A really nice story .
And he’s a free agent at the end of this year . The Knicks have zero chance of signing him .
Lets hope Carmelo Anthony and his ballhogging tendencies don’t cock it up for the Knicks . The MSG has been positively rocking . It’s one of the NBA’s biggest markets , and the Asian market just got re-opened .
His story is a step in the positive direction for the NBA , considering the offseason they just had .
February 14th 2012 @ 9:32am
Ryan O'Connell said | February 14th 2012 @ 9:32am | Report comment
There is one downside to this story: the horrible US media pun headlines!
“May the best man Lin”
“Knicks Linning streak hits 5 in a row”
“NY just got Lin-teresting”
Terrible!
February 14th 2012 @ 10:54am
ohtani's jacket said | February 14th 2012 @ 10:54am | Report comment
ESPN’s “What Lies With Lin” pretty much took the cake.
February 15th 2012 @ 7:16am
Purple Shag said | February 15th 2012 @ 7:16am | Report comment
My personal fave was the Linderella story. Some of them are so bad that I am now convinced that all the Thai restaurants in Australia were named by US media headline writers. Thai One On. Gotta love it.
February 14th 2012 @ 8:40am
Australian Rules said | February 14th 2012 @ 8:40am | Report comment
It’s an extradordinary story.
And he’s humble too…constantly diffusing praise in order to thank his teammates. His story (and ‘look’ and personality) is such a contrast with the typical NBA prototype that it makes compelling viewing to watch him every week. He just doesn’t look like a basketball player…perhaps that’s what kept him constantly overlooked.
Amazing seeing all the Lin 17 singlets in the crowd after just 4 or 5 games.
February 14th 2012 @ 9:02am
Chaos said | February 14th 2012 @ 9:02am | Report comment
To be fair when Linsanity came up against the Lakers he did come up against an ancient Derek Fisher. There was a great tweet during the game that he broke both Fisher’s ankles. Also the Lakers are crying out for a new PG hence the attempted trade for Chris Paul in pre-season that got scuttled by Stern.
The reasons the Rockets had to pass on him are complicated. They had 4PG’s including Lin in preseason and had to cut one as they signed just Dalembert and need to trim the roster. Now Lowry and Dragic weren’t going to get cut and that left Lin and Flynn. Flynn had a guaranteed amount on his contract around $800,000 or so. Lin didn’t. Goodbye Lin.
The second interesting thing regard Lin, the Knicks and the Rockets is that the Rockets will get the Knicks lottery pick ‘if’ the Knicks miss the playoffs. Linsanity and the streak is pushing the Knicks from hopeless to possible 8th spot in the East. The irony of the situtaion is telling. Supposed to be a strong draft too.
Now to Lin. I have doubts he can continue the run when both Melo and Stoudimaire return to the Knicks line up. Stoudimaire did play well with Nash, however Melo likes the offence to run is his hands. The Knicks have been isolating Lin and letting him do his thing. Can both Melo and Lin survice in same rotation? Only time will tell.
The other doubts I have the Lin can continue this run is his TO rate is pretty high (5-6 a game) and his 3 point percentage is low.
February 14th 2012 @ 9:44am
Ryan O'Connell said | February 14th 2012 @ 9:44am | Report comment
Point guards are generally judged on one thing: wins. Their stats don’t matter as much as positions/players. As such, just like Tim Tebow, statistics with Lin only tell a small margin of the story. If he can keep winning, his turnover rate and three point shooting percentage simply won’t be an issue.
Like all players, these things only become an issue once you start losing, which Lin hasn’t done yet. Rest assured, if the losses start piling up, the NY media will turn on him quicker than a F1 car, and his game will be picked apart.
February 14th 2012 @ 9:13am
sledgeross said | February 14th 2012 @ 9:13am | Report comment
True, he does throw a few tough passes, but better credentialled PGs struggle with that as well.
February 14th 2012 @ 9:45am
B.A Sports said | February 14th 2012 @ 9:45am | Report comment
I watched that game against the Lakers. Just awesome. Usually if Hubie Brown is doing a Lakers game, he spends 40 minutes talking about Kobe and the rest of the time on “Pau Gasol” – hate how he says it.., but that night he was clearly mesmerised by Lin.
And I like the story about how he is sleeping on his brother’s couch because he doesn’t have a place yet in NYC.
The Knicks have had another far from impressive year to date. And after all the talk of Amare and Carmelo taking them to the promise land, this kid comes in and does what he does with all the “bits and pieces” players – Amare played in his first match, but hasn’t played since. And he didn’t just do it anywhere. He did it in New York where athletes regularly get crucified!
First guy from the Ivy league to play in the NBA since 02/03 and first guy from Harvard since 1954! Awesome
February 14th 2012 @ 9:59am
Peter_M said | February 14th 2012 @ 9:59am | Report comment
Amazing story although it does seem a little awkward that he thought that one of the main reasons he wasn’t drafted out of college was because of racial stereotypes….
February 14th 2012 @ 10:38am
Blazza said | February 14th 2012 @ 10:38am | Report comment
The big thing is if he were say playing for a smaller market team no one would care about this. The fact that he is lighting it up in the Garden for the Knicks means everyone has jumped on his bandwagon, the media is crazy, Linsanity has taken over. Good for him though, he was super humble in the interview ESPN had during the Lakers game and he seems like a pretty decent/smart guy and i hope he continues this awesome ride he’s on ( Interesting to see how he plays when Melo returns ) and to thank the lucky stars he is doing it in New York.
February 14th 2012 @ 11:22am
Nick Jungfer said | February 14th 2012 @ 11:22am | Report comment
It’s like a freakin movie, one of the craziest thing to happen in sport. I hope it lasts and Melo doesnt stuff everything they going on here when he comes back. Not so worried about Amare, he’ll love playing with Lin, especially in the pick and roll. Melo on the other hand is a selfish ball stopper. The great thing is the egotistical, $100 million contracted superstar that is Carmelo Anthony will have to answer to, and fit in with Lin now. It’s his team and hes running the show.
February 14th 2012 @ 11:24am
Damo said | February 14th 2012 @ 11:24am | Report comment
When Melo’s back the Linsanity will end. Not because Lin isn’t good, but because Melo is a ball hog and a team cancer. Both Denver and NY have played better without him.
February 14th 2012 @ 12:48pm
Ryan O'Connell said | February 14th 2012 @ 12:48pm | Report comment
Lin has just been named the Eastern Conference Player of the Week.
Unbelievable.