Jeremy Lin - A new basketball star

Jeremy Lin starts for the Knicks, lives in his brother’s living room, ‘has his own couch’

By Kelly Dwyer



On Monday, we relayed some of the finer moments behind Jeremy Lin's first extended run as point guard of the New York Knicks, complete with a reference in the title to that most-New York of all bands (Bowery excluded), Steely Dan. Now, we find out that Lin appears to be living a pretty New York City'ish existence. Stuck in the boroughs and wondering if he'll make it the year on an unguaranteed contract, without having to sign a lease, the guy has been living on his brother's couch for months. It likely has nothing to do with any sort of financial worries or comfort amongst family after a road trip brings him home just hours before sunrise -- Lin just probably can't find a better place. It's New York City, after all.

"His own couch?" I don't care if he starts at point guard for the New York dab-nabbin' Knicks. That's a showoff move in the world of Lower East Side real estate. Come on, Jeremy. With your couch. And your bad self.

Lin has played quite well since Knicks coach Mike D'Antoni handed the second-year guard extended minutes, averaging 26.5 points, 7.5 assists, two steals, and (erm) 4.5 turnovers a game in the Knick wins over New Jersey and Utah. But it's obvious that, at this point, he's just showing off. To be able to secure a couch of his own in New York City? That's insanity. Liza Minnelli had to wait decades before getting her own Trundle Bed (and that was only after Peter Allen put in a good word for her). Frank Sinatra couldn't even get a cot until after 'From Here to Eternity' came out, and none of The Ramones ever owned pillows.

Don't cry for Jeremy Lin, as he vaults over the thousands waiting for NYC-area apartments. Just ask his brother if he sublets, when Jeremy is on the road. And then smile as this unlikely, engaging, warming, and NYC note-perfect point guard appears to find his home at last.

NBA Jeremy???

By Adrian Wojnarowski

Long before Houston Rockets general manager Daryl Morey signed Jeremy Lin to a training camp contract in December, they met on an hotel elevator at the 2010 Portsmouth Invitational Tournament. As an MIT graduate, Morey was intrigued with the Harvard star, and the Rockets had a deep scouting profile on Lin and a deeper personal interest.

Yes, Yao Ming had known all about the Asian-American in the Ivy League, and this had been a natural way to ease into a conversation.

“Jeremy asked a lot about Yao, and we talked about him,” Morey said. Yet, the discussion shifted into something far more pressing, far heavier on Lin’s mind. This was the spring of his senior year at Harvard, and a question hung heavily on his mind. All these fringe prospects had come to Portsmouth to impress NBA scouts, to maybe get drafted, and Lin confided to Morey a most real fear.

“He was so unsure,” Morey said. “He wondered if he would even get an invite to a training camp.”

For fringe prospects at fringe predraft camps, that’s how it works: Who will give me an opportunity? Who will allow me to succeed or fail? That’s the beauty of the Jeremy Lin story now, the collision of a franchise’s desperation and a prospect’s preparedness. The Rockets were intrigued with Lin in this season’s training camp, but they had three point guards with guaranteed contracts – Kyle Lowry, Goran Dragic and Jonny Flynn – and never imagined that cutting him loose in December would have such immense implications on the NBA.

“Even if he stayed here, we probably wouldn’t have recognized his talent as much as we should’ve,” Morey said. “He probably wouldn’t have played much at all, and then would’ve been released at the end of the year. I didn’t know he could play this well, and if I did, we would’ve kept him.”

As Linsanity takes over the New York Knicks and NBA, as the phenomenon of the point guard sensation with such unique, broad appeal hurtles into a second week, there promises to be much blame passed around basketball for missing on him. The Golden State Warriors signed him to a free-agent contract, but everyone’s suspicions were confirmed when they cut him in December: As much as new ownership management might have been intrigued with Lin’s talent, it was always hard to separate the seriousness that they had over his basketball talent and the marketing ability of an Asian-American player with Bay Area ties.

Nevertheless, the Warriors did keep him for a season. Of course now, owner Joe Lacob is blaming the old coach, Keith Smart, for failing to play him as a backup last season. Lacob is playing the “”I-knew-it-all-along” game, and it’s downright embarrassing. Twenty-seven teams never bothered to sign Lin, so yes, the Warriors and Rockets do get credit for taking that step.

“I talk to other GMs about this all the time, and [Rockets coach] Kevin McHale says this: ‘There are only 40 or 50 obvious NBA guys who can create a real edge, and the rest rely on opportunity, role, coaching, opponent and hope that comes together with their attitude and work ethic,’ ” Morey said. “This is not a science, and never will be.

“Look at it this way: Twenty-eight teams and what, over 300 Division I schools – the whole food chain of college basketball – passed on him.”

Pro scouting is so sophisticated now with so much access to video, information, analytics that there’s no excuse for failing to study a prospect. Failing to believe in him? Well, that’s different. That happens, and always will. The Knicks were no geniuses for claiming Lin off waivers, just desperate. New York coach Mike D’Antoni had nowhere else to turn, and nothing but more games to lose. Lin changed everything for the Knicks, changed the NBA for a week, and still there’s no one to truly take a bow for Jeremy’s Lin’s emergence. No one but him.

Two years ago, he was the Harvard kid wandering around the Portsmouth Invitational Tournament hotel chatting up GMs, wondering if he’d ever get a chance in the NBA, and suddenly it’s happened without a moment’s notice. Sports are funny that way, and so is life. From the Warriors to the Rockets, there’s no use playing the “what-if” game, because sometimes these things happen the way they’re supposed to happen, when and where and how.

Everything conspired for Lin with the Knicks, momentum gathering like a runaway train. These things happen when they’re supposed to happen, and that’s the Jeremy Lin story now. All those fears, all that uncertainty, has been replaced with a brave, bold confidence. Just maybe, Jeremy Lin was finally ready.

Floyd Mayweather Hits Jeremy Lin On Race

Written by: Eric Adelson

Floyd Mayweather is not going all Lin.

The outspoken boxer who once told rival Manny Pacquiao, a Filipino, to "make some sushi rolls and cook some rice" has retained the title of heavyweight champion of insensitivity by claiming New York Knicks point guard Jeremy Lin is getting national attention for his race rather than his game.

"Jeremy Lin is a good player," Mayweather tweeted Monday, "but all the hype is because he's Asian. Black players do what he does every night and don't get the same praise."

Black players outscore Kobe Bryant every night? Black players who went undrafted rack up at least 20 points and seven assists in each of their first four career starts? Black players go from D-League DNPs to leading the Knicks to five straight wins?

Yes, Lin being Asian is a big part of the story. He's the first American-born player of Taiwanese or Chinese descent to play in the NBA. That's different, and therefore newsworthy. There would probably also be a lot of hype if, say, a black golfer came out of Stanford and started winning golf majors. Or if, just hypothetically, two black sisters from Compton dominated the world of tennis.

But "Money" probably never thought of that.

Mayweather's comments are ignorant, but what's also disturbing is that there really aren't too many Asian voices to shout bigotry down. Jason Whitlock should have been fired for his awful joke about Lin's anatomy, but don't look for that to happen. What Floyd said isn't nearly as bad, but clearly the half-baked theories that demean Asian-Americans in this country are not as curtailed or chided as they should be. That's in part because there haven't been too many Asian voices in sports media. There haven't been too many respected Asian coaches in the major sports. And let's face it, there haven't been too many outspoken Asian superstars anywhere in American pop culture. Pacquiao, ironically, is one of the most celebrated Asian athletes of our time.

Maybe at some point he'll have a chance to reply to Floyd with his fists.

by Eric Freeman

New York Knicks point guard Jeremy Lin didn't have a particularly good game on Tuesday night against the Raptors in Toronto. Yes, he put up 27 points and 11 assists, but he also struggled with his decision-making to turn it over eight times. The Knicks' offense struggled for much of the night, and Lin was part of that.

But that's insignificant to the story of the game. Down nine points with just 3:57 left in the fourth quarter, Lin helped engineer a 13-1 closing run to extend the Knicks' winning streak to six games. He also hit the game-winning shot: this cold-blooded three-pointer in Jose Calderon's face with just 0.5 seconds on the clock. As if that weren't enough, he also completed a game-tying three-point play with 1:05 left. In winning time, he took over.

Jeremy Lin Game Winner @ Toronto Raptors 14/2/12

Lin's current media profile is at a level usually reserved for the game's biggest superstars, and maybe that's a little goofy given his talent level. But the kid can play, clearly, and the sheer unpredictability of this story is hard not to love. By all reasonable considerations, it's amazing that he's in the league at all, let alone starring for one of the NBA's marquee franchises.

Plus, this isn't a fluke. Despite his earlier struggles, he was in control at a time when the Raptors were falling apart. If 27 and 11 is an off-night, then the kid belongs.