Jeremy Lin: From Underachiever to Hero

Jeremy Lin during the second of  five straight
20-point games vs. the Utah Jazz on February 6, 2012

It was a cold Saturday night at Madison Square Garden, the cross-town rivals New York and New Jersey in action. The focus of attention remains Carmelo Anthony and Amar'e Stoudemire from the Knicks, and Deron Williams from the Nets. However, a player whose 'chinito' looks can't be denied is warming up on that same court. 

He is Jeremy Lin, a Taiwanese-American baller from Harvard who had been buried deep on the Knicks bench for most games, and the only way he can play is when the game was out of reach. But with Iman Shumpert and Toney Douglas struggling, head coach Mike D'Antoni finally decided to break Lin loose, and he broke out in a big way, scoring 25 points while earning five rebounds and seven assists en route to 99-92 Knicks win. 

Two nights later, the Knicks host the Utah Jazz, who were embarking on a week-long road trip. With Stoudemire out for family reasons, D'Antoni decided to give Lin the starting nod, and he did not disappoint. Defying the notion of being a mere 'one-hit wonder', Lin burned the Jazz with 28 points and eight assists in a convincing 99-88 win. 

After a 23-point, 10-assist performance against the lowly Wizards the next night, Lin returned to the Garden to face Kobe Bryant and the powerful Lakers Friday evening. In front of a national television audience, Lin announced his entry to the NBA's elite with a career-defining 38-point performance, outdueling Bryant and the Lakers in a 92-85 Knicks win. His performance was even talked about on social media, with the terms 'Linsanity', 'Jeremy Lin', and 'Linning' the trending topic on Twitter that Friday night. In only one week, Jeremy Lin turned his life around, from an underachiever who couldn't even make the rotation to a hero not only in New York City, but across the world.

Lin, whose parents were Taiwanese immigrants, was an undrafted prospect from Harvard who made the NBA via the Summer League. In his four years at Harvard, he averaged 13 ppg, 4 rpg, and 4 apg while playing an average of 29 minutes and a shooting clip of 48%.  He managed to appear in 115 games, with 87 of them in the starting lineup, enough for topping the all-time Harvard record for games played. He was an All-Ivy League second team selection once (2008) and first team selection twice (2009-10). 

Lin joined the Dallas Mavericks summer league team after graduating in 2010 and made an impression among the scouts from the Golden State Warriors, norming 10 ppg, 3 rpg and 2 apg in 19 mpg for all five games. The Warriors then signed Lin on July 21, 2010.

But Lin failed to make an impression in the Bay Area, due to the fact that players like Stephen Curry and Monta Ellis were playing both guard positions and that Reggie Williams and Acie Law were Keith Smart's more trusted backups. In all, Lin played in only 29 games, mostly in injury or garbage situations and averaged only 3 ppg, 1 rpg and 1 apg in just 10 mpg. Nevertheless, Lin made history as the 42nd NBA player from an Ivy League school, and its first Asian-American player. But Lin wasn't satisfied with being just a mere NBA pioneer.

When the NBA resumed operations following the four-month lockout, the Warriors waived Lin on December 9, 2011, despite earning a fan favorite status in Oakland and even earned the trust of owner Joe Lacob. The Houston Rockets immediately signed Lin to its training camp roster on December 12, but waived him a day before the start of the season. Then on December 27, the Knicks signed Lin after rookie Iman Shumpert fell to an injury. Lin debuted, ironically, against the Warriors on December 28, playing only one minute. After a spate of garbage time performances totaling only nine points in 15 minutes, Lin was assigned to the Knicks' D-League affiliate, the Erie Bayhawks, and on January 20 against the Maine Red Claws, he had a triple-double of 28 points, 11 rebounds and 12 assists, getting a glimpse of what was to become. 

The Knicks recalled Lin after six days in the D-League on January 23, but continued to be used in garbage time situations. Not until Mike D'Antoni gave him significant minutes against the Nets that Saturday night did 'Linsanity' explode, and in a week's time, he became a cultural icon not only in New York City, but also in China and Taiwan, and around the world. The NBA even added Knicks games to the Chinese and Taiwanese media, underscoring Lin's eventual importance to the Chinese-speaking community.

A week after his breakout performance against the Nets, Lin faced another rising star in Spain's Ricky Rubio, when the Knicks visit the Minnesota Timberwolves. With the game down to the wire, Lin stepped up and hit the game-changing free throws late in the game to seal the Knicks' 100-98 win, adding 'clutch performer' to his expanding resume. Within a week, Lin was featured heavily on the Associated Press, Time Magazine, and Bloomberg News, in addition to becoming a trending topic on Twitter.

The rags-to-riches story of Jeremy Lin, if it continues, may just become the 'Story of the Year' in 2012. For this Harvard scholar-turned-big-time baller, it is only the beginning of a story to remember for years to come.