Newly Minted Knicks Star Gives the Regular Guy Hope
NEW YORK – It’s barely been 3 weeks and Jeremy Lin, the little known New York Knicks point guard, has become an international phenomenon to the second power. Lin’s play and mystique have already been said to influence major decisions. For one, the President of the United States, Barack Obama, has taken notice of Lin and his exploits from obscurity. There’s no doubt, Lin will be mentioned during at least one of President Obama’s re-election speeches on what America is all about.
Lin, a native of Palo Alto, California – after not being selected in the 2010 NBA draft – was offered a contract by the Golden State Warriors, his favorite team growing up. But first he would impress in the Las Vegas Summer League. Now a second-year point guard with the Knicks, he has started seven games (at press time) and has led the Knicks to eight out of nine wins.
NBA commissioner David Stern told USA Today one day last week that Lin won’t be a special late addition to the annual Rising Stars game featuring rookies and second-year players at All-Star Weekend. What a difference a second thought could make. Commissioner Stern is no fool and he’s millions of miles away from being dumb. He recognizes an international scene when he sees one. To that extent, a provision (more like a very smart ruling) was made to allow Lin and Miami’s impressive rookie, Norris Cole, to be included in the Rookie – Sophomore Challenge.
One has to wonder if the Jeremy Lin factor will become reminiscent of Michael Jordan. No one would dare say that Lin is anywhere near the player that Jordan was or that he ever will be. Lin would be fortunate to be as great of a player as Steve Nash, to whom Dallas Maverick and future Hall of Famer Jason Kidd says, “taking D’Antoni’s offense and he looks a little bit like Steve Nash out there.” Kidd also added with a bit of admiration, “he’s a great kid. He is very humble and plays extremely hard no matter if he makes a mistake or makes a fantastic play.” Then Kidd was asked if Lin could sustain his stellar play, as if it could be a fluke of some kind: “Why not? Why not? I hope he does. I think it’s a great story.”
The Jeremy and Jordan effect: it has been said that when Jordan and the Bulls were rampaging through the League that the crime rate in Chicago went down. Can Lin have the same effect on the crime rate in New York? It is very possible as everyone from fans to not-so-fans, young and old, American and foreigner, males and females and aliens are riveted to the exploits of one Jeremy Lin.
Lin’s play and the Knicks winning is said to have influenced and helped resolved the dispute between Time Warner Cable and Madison Square Garden. Had they not gotten the deal done, the governor of the State of New York, Andrew Cuomo was set to get involved.
Jeremy Lin has even influenced commerce. Yes, commerce: since February 4th his jersey is the highest selling jersey in the entire NBA. That list, it must be noted, also includes Lin’s teammates, Carmelo Anthony and Amar’e Stoudemire and it has helped the Knicks become the most prolific franchise thus far in jersey sales as well as in legends – LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Kobe Bryant. “Linsanity” has been trademarked by Lin himself and his people.
The object of puns on his name has been amazing to see. The creativeness to twist and turn and put different variations on the name Lin is remarkable. Lin himself got in on the act while on a radio interview with Michael Kay on ESPN’s The Michael Kay Show when it was asked how his family is dealing with it all, Lin playfully responded on cue with, “we all think it’s pretty Lin-describable.” Speaking of ESPN, two people – one was outright fired, while the other was suspended for 30 days – have come under fire for making derogatory statements with regard to Lin’s heritage. It doesn’t matter if they were innocent comments or not, there was a responsibility as journalists to upon. Lin also was made fun of on Saturday Night Live, but nothing derogatory was said.
What makes Lin so desirable isn’t just his humble demeanor but his ferocious and electrifying style on the court. One kind of gets the best of both of Lin’s world. Lin, however. represents all of us that have been overlooked, second guessed and passed over. But he also represents the reason why one should always stay alert, ready and hopeful for opportunity whenever and however it may knock. Lin is an Everyman’s Man.
There are questions regarding Lin’s overall skill level but Coach D’Antoni will hear none of it as he professes on Lin’s behalf: “you can’t teach quickness, you can’t teach smarts and you can’t teach vision.” Those are traits that make any point guard successful in any offense, let alone D’Antoni’s, which is very point guard friendly.
Time will tell if Linsanity will continues to have the same buzz and effect as Air Jordan, but one thing is for certain: after only a few weeks, it’s off to a rousing start.
Jerald L. Hoover
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