Lin-Sane in the Membrane

         Linsanity. The Yellow Mamba. Lintendo 64. Call him what you want, but Jeremy Lin is quickly turning into an NBA star. From California to Harvard, stints with three NBA teams, and a few demotions to the Development League, Jeremy Lin has found his niche with the New York Knicks. After multiple injuries at the point guard position, he received his chance. He came off of the bench and had 25 points, 5 rebounds, and 7 assists against the Nets on February 4^th. Everyone, myself included thought it was a fluke. Boy, did he prove us wrong. For everyone that thought he was going to be a star after the first game, you can say you made a great call. For those that did not (including me) we are all fools.

          The next night, he was given his first start against the Utah Jazz. He played without the team’s two big stars, Carmelo Anthony and Amare Stoudemire, and had 28 points and 8 assists.  Many of the ESPN broadcasters’ just thought it was a nice, heart-warming story. Then came the Raptors game. The Knicks traveled to Toronto to play the Raptors. The game was tied at 87 with 14 seconds to go. He called off all of his teammates, dribbled up to the three-point line and calmly drained the game-winning three pointer.

 LINSANITY followed. This is when Jeremy Lin blew up to epic proportions. Any episode of Sportscenter could not go 10 minutes without making a Knicks or Jeremy Lin reference. The nicknames followed. Throughout all of this, he remained humble and thanked his teammates for putting him in position to make those plays. That instantly got him a comparison to Tim Tebow. Now this week, the “so-called experts” are saying that there is no comparison for Jeremy Lin.

The fifth game of LINSANITY was where the Los Angeles Lakers came to town. One of the NBA’s superstars, Kobe Bryant, did not even know who he was before the game. He definitely did afterwards. Lin finished with a career high 38 points in the win as Kobe poured in 33.

After the 7 game win streak with Lin ended after a loss to the lowly Hornets, they faced off against the defending champion, Dallas Mavericks. Being a big fan of basketball, I usually am too busy to watch full games on tv. I made time for this one and it did not disappoint. It was a game of ridiculous runs, clutch three pointers, Dirk Nowitzki dominating, a Steve Novak sighting, and ended with a dose of LINSANITY. Lin had his best game against last year’s champs. His stat line is incredible. He had 28 points, 14 assists, 5 steals, and 7 turnovers. Steve Novak hit 4 three pointers in the 4^th quarter and newly signed J.R. Smith chipped in with 15 points. The Knicks won 105-97.

You cannot talk about Jeremy Lin without throwing out the race card. He is one of the few Asian-Americans in the NBA. He is also the first American player in the league to be of Chinese or Taiwanese decent. This has been very positive for the Asian community. It also brings more cultural diversity towards the NBA. At the same time, this has brought out bad press as well. ESPN had a story online under an offensive title that was removed and apologized for. Three people were fired for similar things as well. This has also been followed by the nickname the “Yellow Mamba” which has been posted on sports websites and signs by fans.

But, Jeremy Lin’s story is really what makes him such a phenomenon. He was a short 160 pound scrawny point guard that led Palo Alto High School to a state title his senior year. After receiving no scholarships from any schools, he went to Harvard which did not give out any athletic scholarships. He became the Ivy League leader in points, assists, steals, and rebounds.

Even after all of this, he still was not drafted in the 2010 NBA Draft. He was invited to the Dallas Mavericks Summer League team. Following that, he signed a two year contract with the Golden State Warriors which was his home town team. He bounced back and forth from being active, inactive, or being demoted to the Development League three times. He played in a tournament in China during the lockout where he was named MVP. Then, as soon as the lockout ended, he was cut. The Rockets picked him up and he played in two preseason games before being cut again. Three days later, the New York Knicks signed him to be their third string point guard due to injuries. On January 17, he was demoted to the Development League again. Three days later, he recorded a triple double in the D-League. On January 23, the Knicks recalled him to the team. The team’s projected starter suffered a setback in his injury, causing the Knicks to keep him a little bit longer. After a February 3^rd loss to the Celtics, coach, Mike D’Antoni, gave him a desperate chance because the team was playing so bad. The rest is history.

Not everything about Jeremy Lin has suggested greatness though. He is averaging 3.4 turnovers per game and had 9 in the loss to the Hornets. The argument can also be made that this is essentially Lin’s rookie year because of lack of playing time last year. There is also the argument that once Carmelo Anthony gets back, they will not play together all that well. At the time of publication, the Knicks were 1-1 since Anthony has been back, so that remains to be seen.

Jeremy Lin is the classic underdog story. He has burst onto the scene to the point where stores are sold out of his jerseys hours after putting them into their stores. He has become a cultural phenomenon, a media sweetheart, and New York’s newest celebrity. These are extraordinary titles and it will be a challenge for him to live up to the high expectations. I will be one of the fans following his career wherever it takes him. I encourage you to jump on the LINSANITY  bandwagon.