Musings on Linsanity

Image taken from playborhood.com

Rather late, I know, but I couldn't pass up writing about the NBA's newest star, Asian-American point guard Jeremy Lin. As of this writing, the former Harvard player, playing at an All-Star level, has led his team, the New York Knicks to seven straight wins. In doing so, Lin has compiled 171 points, 136 of which were apparently the most any player has made in his first five starts since 1976, when the NBA and ABA merged. Not too shabby for a former castoff of both the Golden State Warriors and the Houston Rockets, who couldn't afford his own apartment and slept on the couch of his brother and team mate Landry Fields.

Some of the Lin highlights during the seven-game streak include a whopping 38 points against Kobe Bryant and the Los Angeles Lakers, and a game-winning 3-pointer against the Toronto Raptors. Some of his biggest fans include director Spike Lee and U.S. President Barack Obama. Things are certainly looking up for Jeremy Lin, whose meteoric rise to stardom has spawned the term "Linsanity", probably the most popular of the word plays on Lin's name.


Of course, not everything is coming up roses for Lin. Fox sports writer Jason Whitlock tweeted an insulting tweet on Twitter, for which he has since apologized, and Floyd Mayweather posted his own tweet about why Lin is getting so much media. Admittedly, the fact that there are hardly any other Asian-American NBA players right now does raise the specter of race, as CBS sports columnist Gregg Doyel points out.

The challenge now for Lin is whether he can continue playing at a high level, especially when Knicks forward Carmelo Anthony comes back from his groin injury. Hoop Nut hits the nail on the head when he observes that, even though he hasn't played as well as he should've, "Melo believes that New York is his team, his city." It'll all boil down to a question of ego, although it should be pointed out that, with Lin starting, the Knicks have won seven straight, while, with Anthony, the Knicks are a paltry 8-15. However, Anthony, admittedly, is the highly paid star, so it will be interesting to see how the Knicks will deal with a possible situation when Anthony is well enough to play.

In the meantime, Jeremy Lin is free to continue his romp through the NBA, although, as one columnist has opined, he will no longer be a surprise to opponents, who will undoubtedly make adjustments to deal with this pesky newcomer. How Lin will react to these adjustments may determine if he truly has what it takes to play in the NBA.