Jeremy MF Lin…my life has been in complete chaos for the past two weeks. I’ve sold out my beloved Raptors, I’m constantly glued to box scores, I’m spending every waking hour watching Youtube clips and reading every Lin article I can find and after every mind blowing Lin performance, my friends and I are calling each other like teenage girls and worst of all, I haven’t been able to get any sleep after every Knicks game (just too much excitement).
By now, I’m pretty sure everyone has heard of Jeremy Lin and his incredible story over the past week and a half. I’ll spare all the details of Jeremy’s rise, but here’s a summary:
- Harvard Grad
- Undrafted by an NBA team but earned a tryout with the Golden State Warriors, ultimately earning a contract with the team in 2010/2011 being the first Asian American in the NBA
- Ultimately Cut by the Warriors in 2011
- Picked up by the Houston Rockets and Cut
- Picked up by the New York Knicks, rarely played and was about to be cut
- Out of desperation and injuries, he was finally given some playing time and on Feb. 4, Linsanity officially began.
- As of today, since playing, the Knicks are 8 and 9 and improved their record from 8 & 15 to 16 and 16,
- His stats are ridiculous, surpass all the records for players starting in their first 3, 4, 5, 6… games and he continues providing clutch performances hitting game winning shots and big plays, against the biggest teams in the biggest arenas and largest platforms.
Kobe Bryant summarized it best following Lin’s dominating performance against the Los Angeles Lakers saying: “It’s a great story. It’s a testament to perserverance and hard work. A good example for kids everywhere.”
Another great angle on this story is that kid’s can now be inspired to go to a good school, get a degree AND play ball – not just chasing that NBA dream.
Hopefully this fairy-tale continues and even if it ends, he’s done more in a week and a half than many NBA players will do in a lifetime.
nicabBY 