For those of ya’ll who have been living under a rock for the past two weeks and have just managed to crawl up from under it, only to ask the same question that many others are just starting to realize the answer to, sit down and buckle up for you are in for a wild ride.
Lin is the 23-year old point guard of the New York Knicks in the National Basketball Association (NBA), who in a brief span of two weeks has spawned “Linsanity” all over the world not just for his stellar play but even more so for his fascinating life story that has to be seen or heard of before it is to be believed.
Lin’s rise to prominence and superstardom on basketball’s grandest stage is so phenomenal that it almost seems like it was taken out from a page of a movie script. “Lin-spirational,” “Lin-sane,” “Lin-derella,” “Lin-vincible,” “Lin-sational,” – all these are just lexicons that have been spawned by the super underdog story that we all love to hear and cheer for, especially us Filipinos.
But let’s not get ahead of ourselves. In order to fully grasp the Asian sensation that is Jeremy Lin, it is best that we start from the very beginning. Lin was born on August 23, 1988, in Los Angeles, California to Taiwanese parents. His father Gie-Ming taught him the game of basketball at the local YMCA gym where the youngster quickly picked the game up.
In high school, Lin showed flashes of brilliance especially in leading Palo Alto High School to a 32-1 record and in stunning fashion, he led his squad to an upset win over the nationally-ranked Mater Dei for the California Inter-Scholastic Federation division II title. He was also named first-team All-State and Northern California Division II Player of the Year ending his senior year averaging 15.1 points, 7.1 assists, 6.2 rebounds and 5.0 steals.
But in spite of his accolades, Lin was still slept on by all of the NCAA’s basketball powerhouses including his dream schools, Stanford and University of California-Los Angeles (UCLA). He ended up playing for an Ivy League school, Harvard University, and in his senior school, rung up the many-time champions University of Connecticut for 30 points, prompting their legendary Huskies head coach Jim Calhoun to say, “I've seen a lot of teams come through here, and he could play for any of them.”
Still, in true underdog fashion, Lin went undrafted but managed to turn heads in the NBA Summer League when he went toe-to-toe with the league’s top pick that year, John Wall. His showing gained him attention and eventually a two-year deal with the Golden State Warriors. His time though in the Bay Area was largely a frustrating one especially playing behind two ball-dominating players in Stephen Curry and Monta Ellis.
He was cut from the squad prior to the start of this season’s training camp but was quickly picked up by the Houston Rockets on December 12, 2011. He never got to don a Rocket uniform though as once more, he was cut from the team on December 24. His luck though started to change when he was claimed off the waiver wire by the Knicks in light of New York’s mounting injuries to their point guards.
Still, uncertainty was still a cloud hovering over the young guard’s head with his contract remaining unguaranteed for the rest of the season. He was so unsure of his future that he did not even bother to get an apartment of his own in the Big Apple, instead choosing to crash on his brother’s couch.
His chance to shine arrived on February 4 as he had 25 points, five rebounds and seven assists against the New Jersey Nets. He then followed that up with 28 points and eight assists against the Utah Jazz in his first career start. The hype began brewing but Lin remained unfazed as he led the Knicks to a third straight win, with 23 points and 10 assists against the Washington Wizards.
Lin’s true acid test came against Kobe Bryant and the mighty Los Angeles Lakers who came to Madison Square Garden looking to put an end to all the “Lin-sanity.” Before the game, Bryant, the league’s ruthless “Black Mamba,” even said that he knew nothing of the Asian guard. Well, Kobe certainly got more than he bargained for as Lin hung up 38 points and seven rebounds in leading the Knicks to a 92-85 victory over the vaunted Lakers.
Afterward, Bryant said, “Players don’t come out of nowhere.” He just may very well have said that the talent was there, but sometimes the opportunity wasn’t. It took the right circumstances and timing, the right coach, right system. And sometimes, it took desperation to try anything. And for the struggling New York Knicks, well, Jeremy Lin constituted anything.
And for a weekend encore, Lin added 20 points and eight assists as he led the Knicks to a fifth straight win after narrowly escaping the Minnesota Timberwolves, 100-98. 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.
Two years ago, he was the Harvard kid wondering if he will ever get the chance to live out his dream and play in the NBA. Suddenly it has happened without a moment’s notice. Sports are funny that way, and so is life. From every college or NBA squad that passed on him, to the Warriors and to the Rockets that gave up on him, there’s no use playing the “what-if” game, because sometimes these things happen the way they’re supposed to happen, when and where and how.
Everything has conspired for Lin with the Knicks, momentum gathering like a runaway train. These things happen when they’re supposed to happen, and that’s the Jeremy Lin story now. All those fears, all that uncertainty, has been replaced with a brave, bold confidence. And for us, let us all sit back and enjoy the Jeremy Lin Show.
Oh and one last thing, Happy Va-Lin-tine’s Day!
by: Jonas Rey N. Panerio
iSTORYA.NET Sports Columnist
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