The rise of 'Linsanity' | Thebigtip

‘Linsanity!’

That’s the headline that has been dominating sport media outlets over the last two weeks. It’s the hallmark of Jeremy Lin, who has gone from no-name bench warmer to star quicker than you can type #Linsanity into Twitter and see the millions of results that come up. 

Lin is a Taiwanese-American (the first American of Chinese/Taiwanese descent to play in the NBA) Harvard graduate who went undrafted out of college and had been cut by two NBA teams before signing with the New York Knicks on December 27th. 

Jeremy Lin’s journey to stardom, however, really began on the 4th of February (U.S. time) vs. New Jersey. 

Lin had been signed by the Knicks as cover for the injured Iman Shumpert and Baron Davis, and had played in only nine games for the Knicks before the game against the Nets at New York’s Madison Square Garden. 

Against the Nets, Lin came off the bench to play 36 minutes, scored 25 points and recorded seven assists, five rebounds and two steals while leading the Knicks to a win. 

It seemed, at the time, like a flash in the pan, a once off performance against the worst statistically ranked defense of the last 20 years. 

How wrong that assumption was. 

Two nights later against Utah, again at the Knicks’ home court, Lin earned his first career NBA start off the back of his performance against the Nets. 

Lin looked to be just what the doctor ordered again for the point guard deficient Knicks against Utah, scoring 28 points and recording 8 assists while playing 45 of 48 possible minutes. 

New York was completely enamored with their new star, who spent the nights sleeping on his brother’s couch because he couldn’t afford to pay rent. 

He continued the hot streak against 2010 #1 draft pick John Wall and the Washington Wizards, recording his first double-double of 23 points and ten assists, leading the Knickerbockers to their third win in a row. 

The biggest test in Lin’s fledging career was still to come, when on the 10th of February (U.S. time) 14 time NBA All Star and 2008 NBA Most Valuable Player, Kobe Bryant, would spearhead the Los Angeles Lakers’ attack on Madison Square Garden. 

Having won their past nine encounters and New York missing their two stars A’mare Stoudemire and Carmelo Anthony, Kobe and the Lakers were almost guaranteed a win by most pundits. 

Enter, Jeremy Lin.

In a press conference leading up to the game Bryant was asked if he had been following Lin’s journey. 

“No idea. I know who he is, but don’t really know what’s going on with that,” Kobe said before adding, when a reporter compared Lin to Bryant at age 18 “I don’t even know what he has done. I have no idea what you guys are talking about. I’ll look at it tonight though.”

And look at it, he did.

Lin recorded a career high 38 points and added seven assists on top of that, along with a highlight reel lay-up to give the Knicks their fourth consecutive win. 

After the game, Bryant had some more endearing words for Lin.

“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.”

Kobe isn’t the only one who had high praise for the 23 year old, Knicks’ centre Tyson Chandler said Lin is the real deal. 

“He’s not a fluke. You can tell when a guy isn’t really that skilled but is just having a good stretch. This guy is skilled. He’s fast. He gives the defense a problem, and he’s really crafty at the rim.” 

By this stage the concept of ‘Linsanity’ had spread all over the world, the league’s biggest franchise, America’s biggest city and sports fans everywhere sent into a basketball induced spin.

The Knicks faced Minnesota the very next night and Lin was again on song, playing 39 minutes, scoring 20 points and adding eight assists against the other major revelation of the lockout-compressed 2011/12 season, Ricky Rubio. 

Lin’s biggest moment to date came in Wednesday’s game against the lowly Toronto Raptors, which is hard to believe considering the events that came before it. 

The game was tied at 87 apiece with Lin in possession of the ball for what would be the last shot of the game. Lin, not a noted jump shooter, was expected to drive into the lane or pass to an open man.

But, reminiscent of the improbability in his career that preceded this game, Lin took matters into his own hands. 

He advanced the ball from half court with just six seconds on the clock before he isolated himself against Raptors’ point guard Jose Calderon and pulled up to drain the game winning three-pointer with 0.5 of a second remaining. 

That 27 point performance saw him break the record for the most points for a player in their first 5 starts since the ABA-NBA merger in 1976, ahead of Hall Of Fame players like Dominique Wilkins, Dan Issel and possibly the most famous player since Michael Jordan, Shaquille O’Neal. 

Before the game against Toronto, Lin had done all this without either of the Knicks’ stars in Anthony, who was out with a groin injury, and Stoudemire whose brother passed away in the week prior. 

In the two games that Stoudemire has been back for (Wednesday v Raptors, Thursday v Kings) Lin has averaged 18.5 points and a massive 12 assists, but the man they call ‘Melo’ is the sticking point, seemingly reluctant to change. Gelling with Anthony will undoubtedly be Lin’s biggest hurdle if he is to continue his meteoric ascension. 

In the game’s biggest market, a little known Ivy League graduate has become a star. Whether Lin continues to perform this way or not, it is truly a story for the ages, a classic underdog battle and a testament to hard work and perseverance paying off. 

His performances may not always be ‘Linsane’, he may not always lead his team to ‘Lins’ and the novelty of the puns will wear off (most likely after this sentence), but Lin looks to have a bright future in the NBA, if not a ‘Lincredible’ one.