I was going to write about Knicks point guard Jeremy Lin’s own assessment of his meteoric rise from on-the-verge-of-getting-cut benchwarmer to NBA sensation, but my colleague (and fellow New York sports fan) Mysterious Ways blogger Adam Hunter beat me to it. Still I’ve got to say something about the guy who’s the biggest inspirational story in sports right now.
When Lin first burst onto the national consciousness (translation: made SportsCenter highlights) two weeks ago, part of me was thrilled to see my hometown team win, especially led by a player from my background (child of Chinese immigrants) and my school (Harvard, that not-so-hotbed of basketball talent). A small part of me, though, wished Lin didn’t so neatly fit the model minority stereotype of Asian-Americans: quiet, humble, respectful, hard-working, studious.
But the more I’ve found out about Jeremy Lin, the more I’ve gotten caught up in the Linsanity. After all, how I can I not be a fan when …
1) He shows that a positive attitude can take you far.
Coaches, scouts and analysts said Lin had the mental makeup—smarts, toughness, leadership, positivity—to play in the NBA. The question mark was his physical skills. Well, he’s worked on those and still does. Meanwhile, his smarts, toughness, leadership and positive attitude have his team on a seven-game win streak.
2) He knows how to have fun and laugh at himself.
Check out the quirky handshake he and teammate Landry Fields (a Stanford grad) came up with. Fields opens a book, Lin pages through it, Fields closes the book, they take off their glasses and put them in their shirt pockets.
Gotta love it when the best-educated backcourt in the league gets creative and embraces their nerddom!
3) He’s got game.
Yes, athleticism may be the least of Lin’s gifts. But guess what? He shoots, he scores. He dunks, he dishes. In his first four starts in the NBA, Larry Bird scored 70 points. Michael Jordan had 99; Shaq, 100. Jeremy Lin? 109 points. Plus he’s got the Knicks playing like a team again.
4) His feel-good story has inspired other acts of inspiration.
There’s the Jeremy Lin word generator.
(Used in a sentence: Watching Jeremy Lin play produces a rush of those feel-good neurotransmitters now known as Lindorphins.)
And this uplifting rap by Mega Ran extolling the value of hard work and having a dream.
5) He reminds us why we love sports.
Basketball blogger Got ’Em Coach put it so well when he wrote about Lin’s torching the Lakers for 38 points:
“Tonight I saw a human being, just like you and me, not just overcome his opponent, but overcome the limitations of his own body and mind, to excel at the highest level. Whether he becomes the next Walt Frazier doesn’t matter. Tonight, Jeremy Lin touched greatness. Tonight, Jeremy Lin was Great. Isn’t that why we watch sports? Don’t we hope to see something amazing?”
