Jeremy Lin, a point guard for the New York Knicks, has been the most dynamic, surprising and inspiring basketball player in the NBA this season. Not only has he exploded with huge stats, he has also kept his cool under the spotlight. Although he is an amazing rising talent, Lin has some basic flaws that he must work to improve in order to be a successful player in the NBA.
Lin seems to defy almost every aspect of the game, astounding Knicks fans and NBA fans altogether with his whopping stats. According to ESPN, in his first eight games starting Lin scored 200 points, something that only four NBA players have done. However, Lin succeeds in far more than just points. This year, Lin has achieved 109 assists and 51 rebounds.
“He is a good shooter and reads the defense well,” said sophomore basketball fan Grant Sandler.
But what explains his surge? As a Golden State Warrior for the first years of his career, Lin’s statistics and overall abilities as a player did not predict his incredible success as a Knick. Therefore, his new team can take some of the credit for Lin’s rise to prominence.
“Lin is not really competing with any players in terms of the point guard position,” said Sandler. “He is also working with two all-stars [Amare Stoudemire and Carmelo Anthony] which should help with his success.”
However, some argue that Lin has risen to fame for other reasons.
“I think the two factors responsible for his sudden success are his race and the fact that he is the ultimate underdog,” said senior basketball fanatic Connie Zhou.
Zhou has a point. The only Asian basketball player that has had as much success as Lin has been Yao Ming, as good Asian-American basketball players in the NBA are hard to come by.
Americans also love underdogs, and Lin is definitely an underdog.
“It's also remarkable how he was not recruited by his dream school [UCLA] and graduated from a school least known for its athletics [Harvard],” said Zhou. “It seemed like he was barely qualified to play D-1 school ball, let alone make it big in the biggest professional basketball league in the world.”
Other LHS students agree. In a random poll, I asked 15 LHS students why they liked Lin. Two said they did not know who he was, three students said it was because he was good at offense and ten students said it was because he is a huge underdog. In fact, while walking in the hall, I have even heard some students comparing him to the rising underdog Tim Tebow in the NFL.
Although Lin’s story in New York has been a fairytale so far, his journey is far from over. Lin still struggles with ball control in his off hand and is constantly turning over the ball.
“As a point guard, he should not be turning over the ball nearly as much as he is,” said Sandler. “And to be honest I don’t think that his success will last very long.”
There is no doubt that Lin has potential, but can he live up to it? That is a question that will be answered over time. But for the time being, Lin is proving to be a fun player to watch succeed and grow.