He’s been Lincredible. He’s been Linsational. He’s been a Linspiration. Who is this Mr. Lincredible? He’s from California and is a 6-foot-3 rookie point guard for the New York Knicks, who graduated from Harvard in 2010 with a 3.1 GPA and a degree in economics. Jeremy Lin has taken the NBA and the whole nation by surprise this season with his Linsane performances for the Knicks in recent weeks.
Where did he come from though? Lin went undrafted out of college, but signed a contract with Golden State Warriors, who happened to be his favorite team growing up. The Warriors placed him on waivers in late 2011, where the Houston Rockets claimed him. His tenure with the Rockets lasted a mere 12 days before he was waived again, but the Knicks soon picked him up, where it looks like his stay will last much longer.
Lin was originally signed to be a back up to Toney Douglas and Mike Bibby because the Knicks were a little thin in depth due to an injury to Iman Shumpert. The Knicks suffered a slow start this season, which is the only reason Lin saw any minutes early on.
On Feb. 4, in a game against the New Jersey Nets, his performance with limited time on the court impressed teammate Carmelo Anthony, who suggested to the Knicks coach, Mike D’Antoni, that Lin should get more time in the second half. Lin finished the game with a career high, 25 points, five rebounds and seven assists.
Lin was awarded his first career start the next game against the Utah Jazz, but the Knicks were without Anthony due to an injury and fellow superstar, Amare Stoudemire, as a result from a death in his family. Lin led the Knicks to a 99-88 win over the Jazz, finishing the game with a new career high, 28 points, and eight assists.
Lin’s elevated levels of performance continued over the next four games and he etched his name in history by scoring the most points by any player in the first four starts of their career, with 109 points, surpassing Allen Iverson.
Many people feared that the return of Anthony and Stoudemire would hinder his performance, but in Stoudemire’s return, Lin finished with an impressive 27 points and 11 assists. Putting better players around him will only help improve his numbers. His shooting numbers will go down, but he will continue to be an effective point guard at the NBA level.
What McDaniel Students Think:
Sophomore Cody Shives said, “J Lin definitely has game, but they are going way overboard with this whole Linsanity thing. I can’t watch SportsCenter without hearing his name.”
Sophomore Kyle Hunter believes, “He’s Lincredible, and he deserves all the recognition he’s gotten because of how hard he worked to get where he is now.”
