Linsanity exploded in February of 2012, and disappeared almost as quickly. It was so exciting for my family, and every once in a while I remember it again.
In 2012, I was sitting in my living room with my parents as we watched Jeremy Lin make a 3 pointer to win the game against the Raptors in the last second of play-time. That’s when my family became NBA fans. But we just as quickly stopped following the sport when Jeremy Lin’s performance dwindled.
This is the same story you might hear from countless Chinese American families. It was such a thrill having someone who looks like us and was raised like us on the NBA courts. And it was just as heartbreaking watching the same person dwindled into obscurity.
This is the rise and fall of Jeremy Lin, a story that seemed like the biggest news in the world to me in 2012.
Jeremy Lin’s College Career
During his senior year of high school, Jeremy Lin was named the Northern California Basketball Player of the Year in their division. But somehow despite this, he go no sports scholarship offers. He sent DVDs of his high school highlights to all of Ivy League schools, UCLA, UC Berkeley, and Stanford. Harvard and Brown were the only schools that got back to him. And, of course, he decides to go to Harvard with no athletic scholarship since they’re not allowed in the Ivy League school.
The assistant coach at Harvard admits that at first, he thought Lin would bea Division III level player, but after watching him play more was extremely impressed. They were worried that Stanford, right across the street from Lin’s high school, would try to recruit him, but that never happened.
During his freshman year of high school, the coach thought he was physically the weakest guy on the team, but by his junior, Jeremy Lin was NCAA men’s Division I top 10 for scoring, rebounding, assists, steals, blocked shots, field goal percentage, free throw percentage, and three-point shot percentage. He easily made the All-Ivy League First Team.
Beginning of his NBA Career
After setting numerous records for Harvard, history repeats itself. Jeremy Lin wehn undrafted in 2010. He played with the Mavericks for Summer League. Following this, he signed with the Golden State Warriors. National media came for the press conference, something very surprising to see for an undrafted rookie. He was eventually moved to the D-Leage.
He was eventually waived by the Warriors. Then waived by the Rockets in the same month!
Eventually picked up by the Knicks, Jeremy Lin could still be dropped before February 10, 2012 by the Knicks without consequence.
LINSANITY
It’s February 2012. The Knicks waived a point guard to sign Tyson Chandler. Their starting point guard was injured, the next guy was also injured. The next two in the lineup were bench point guards, but still ahead of Jeremy Lin. They both had a terrible night. So, Coach Mike D’Antoni basically said screw it, we’re going to put the last point guard we have on the court.
February 4, 2012. Jeremy Lin scores 25 points,5 rebounds, and 7 assists. The Knicks won that night. Jeremy Lin proceeded to lead the team on a 7 game winning streak.
The very next game, February 6, 2012 is Jeremy Lin’s first ever time as a starter in the NBA arena, just 4 days before the date the Knicks were probably going to drop him again.
Jeremy Lin Trivia Facts
- In his first 3 career starts, he scored 89 points. 109 points in his first 4 and 136 points in his first 5.
- During his 3rd ever time as an NBA starter, he scored 38 points. He only ever reached 38 points again later that year playing for the Houston Rockets with their star, James Harden, out.
- He was named on of Times’ 100 Most Influential People of 2012.
- He was the first NBA player to score at least 20 points and 7 assists in each of his first 5 starts.
- He had 45 turnovers in his first seven career starts. THe most ever since individual turnovers started being tracked in the 70s.
The February 14 NBA Game Against the Toronto Raptors
This is the night that I would consider the height of Jeremy Lin’s NBA career.
The Kicks and the Raptors are tied. Jeremy Lin has already scored 24 points. There is literally one second left in the game. And Jeremy Lin takes the 3-point shot. Fans around the country are all holding their breath.
The buzzer rings while the ball is in the air.
AND THE SHOT GOES IN.
Everyone is screaming. I can clearly remember my dad, who isn’t very emotive, standing up and yelling in excitement. He said that he was actually shaking from all the excitement. The next morning he told me he felt like he was still shaking.
This felt like a huge moment. Definitely huge for Jeremy Lin, but it also felt like a big moment for the entire Chinese American community.
Jeremy Lin Post Linsanity
The NBA had already picked out the players for the All-Star Rising Stars game, but based on his recent performance, they had to make changes and add him in.
The next month, he tore his meniscus. And then he got signed onto the Houston Rockets. The Rockets also just got James Harden, their real star. So, Jeremy Lin was more of a supporting character now.
He never scored more than 20 points a game with them until Harden was injured and had to sit out. Jeremy Lin then proceeded to play another 38 point game.
He got injured again.
And nowadays, he’s playing overseas in Asia.
And he’ll probably never make national headlines again.
But it sure was fun while it lasted. My parents and I went on so many trips to see him play in arenas across the country. And, we had so much fun. My parents still have a Jeremy Lin bobblehead in one of our cabinets.
We might never watch another Jeremy Lin game again, but he created something special for our family, and for families around the world.
If you enjoyed reading my deep dive into Jeremy Lin and Linsanity, check out my other deep dives here!
All of the information used for this post were from either this Wikipedia.com article or my own memories.