February 6, 2012, marked the day that the image of the New York Knicks changed in their basketball season. Point guard, Jeremy Lin, made his Knicks starting debut and the rest is history. Lin would go on to score 28 points and most importantly give the Knicks the win. As a matter of fact, the Knicks went on to win 6 games in a row since Lin’s incredible debut. Lin’s amazing skills and story created this buzz around the league, amongst fans and even late night talk shows. This entire buzz would be known best as “Linsanity.”
Lin, a Harvard graduate, was born in Los Angeles, California in 1988. Lin is one of the few Asian Americans in the history of the National Basketball Association. He is also the first player in the NBA to be of Chinese or Taiwanese descent. He attended Palo Alto High School in Palo Alto, California. His senior year, he led Palo Alto High School to a California Interscholastic Federation Division II state title. Lin’s post high school career began when he decided to continue his studies and basketball playing for Ivy League school, Harvard University. He would go on and play with Harvard until he graduated and became the first player in the Ivy League with at least 1,450 points, 450 rebounds, 400 assists and 200 steals.
Lin began his professional career with the Golden State Warriors. He also spent a very short time with the Houston Rockets before ultimately signing with the New York Knicks. Lin played a couple of minutes in a few of the Knicks previous games before he was given a chance to start. He took great advantage of the opportunity and has yet to disappoint. In the 11 games that he has started for the Knicks, the Knicks have won 8 and lost 3 games. He has averaged about 14 points, 3 rebounds and 6 assists per game. His style of play and self-effacing attitude has created a media buzz all over the world.
Although Lin has been a professional for about a year, February 6 was when he was introduced to the whole world. Lin has become one of the most popular players in the NBA and his positive underdog story has added more to it. Lin was chosen to play on February 24, 2012 in the Rising Stars Challenge game as part of this year’s NBA All-Star game festivities. For more stats, game schedules and more of the “Linsanity” visit the NBA’s official website at NBA.com or the Knicks official website at Knicks.com.
(Ignacio Banda can be reached at ignaciobanda@dusty.tamiu.edu)