I spent considerable time with an Asian-American in Turkey, he was a big NBA fan and had interned for the 2009 Champion Lakers. We discussed his enviable access to the NBA beyond what's shown on TV - the locker room machinations and the mental composure needed to succeed in elite sports. We compared our list of favorite underdogs who had worked their way into NBA relevance.
We chatted briefly about Jeremy Lin because of our backgrounds. Little did I know that Lin would prove to be the latest of example of a player seizing the opportunity.
Catching up with the Jet - Kenny Smith on Jeremy LinIn recent weeks Lin has been the talk of the Association with his breakout performance for the struggling Knicks. The team posted three straights wins in large part due to the 2nd year guard coming through once given significant minutes.
KENNY SMITH: [When young guys would come up to me,] my one line to all of them would always be "just because you're not playing doesn't mean you can't play". You know, the NBA is about having a window of opportunity and there's going to be that. Its going to happen. There has never been an NBA player who's ever going to say "I didn't have a game where I played 30 minutes or more" because you're going to get that opportunity...
Everyone's going to get that opportunity and you just have to jump through that window and kick that door down. And Jeremy kicked it in.
Jeremy Lin: From novelty to Knicks starWatch video of Lin's journey from obscurity to the spotlight here - NBA TV: Lin's Long Trip
He was no longer an undrafted free agent; he was the starting point guard for a Knicks team that took the floor without Amare Stoudemire (death in the family) and Carmelo Anthony (groin injury). On Tuesday, his $788,000 contract was guaranteed (Tuesday was the last opportunity for the Knicks to cut him in time to clear waivers) and he now plans to get his own place to stay (he'd been sleeping on the couch in the apartment of his older brother, Josh, who is a graduate student at New York University).
So no, Lin, the first American-born player of Chinese or Taiwanese descent in NBA history, wasn't a novelty on Wednesday. The Wizards had plenty of time to devise a game plan for him. Still, Lin more than lived up to the "Linsanity" label, scoring 23 points and handing out a career-high 10 assists in a win over Washington.
"Lin-sanity" is sweeping across the NBA
The Knicks have bought into the hype
Catch Lin fever, pick up a shirt at the NY Knicks StoreFormer Warrior, Jeremy Lin Visits NYC for the Rookie Transition Program
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