Jeremy Shu-How Lin was born to Taiwanese immigrant parents in Torrance, California. He attended the nearby Palo Alto High School where he led his team to the California Interscholastic Federatiion Division II title, upsetting the nationally ranked Mater Dei High School.
Lin applied to all the Ivy League schools as well as California based colleges University of California, Berkeley, University of California, Los Angeles and Stanford University, which is just across the street from his high school.
It was, however, Harvard who took Lin. In a four-season stint with the school, he was selected to the All-Ivy League First Team three times. By the time he graduated in 2010 with a degree in Economics, Lin became the first Ivy League player in history to set records in scoring, rebounding, assists, and steals. He also gave the school’s basketball program records in wins. Traditionally, Harvard is not known as a sporting university but excels producing law and business graduates.
After Lin was not picked in the 2010 National Basketball Association (NBA) Draft, Golden State Warriors signed him to a two-year deal. He became the first American of Chinese or Taiwanese ancestry to play in the league. With the Warriors, Lin had little playing time as he shared the same position with Stephen Curry and Monta Ellis. Lin was waived by the team on December 2011.
The New York Knicks then signed Lin but was still sparingly used. Due to the injury of guards Iman Shumpert and Baron Davis, along with the declining Mike Bibby, however, Mike D’Antoni – Knicks’ head coach that time – took chance on Lin one night on February 2012 against the New Jersey Nets (now Brooklyn Nets). That’s where the 13-game run with 10 wins (eight-game win streak) began. “Linsanity” was born, leading the Knicks’ winning turnaround with a 13-game average of 22.5 points and 8.7 assists. The fairytale, however, was not meant to last.
One does not simply compete with superstars. The Knicks have Carmelo Anthony. Coming from a groin injury, Anthony was not happy of his diminished role. He preferred isolation plays and mid-range jumpers, unlike Lin who was more suited to pick-and-rolls and free-flowing offense. It’s easier to fire coaches compared to stars, so, the Knicks released D’Antoni and signed Mike Woodson whose style of coaching suited Anthony.
There was also resentment because Lin was becoming a star. Not everyone on the team was happy with his success. D’Antoni wanted players to adapt to the new style of play but some refused – Anthony in particular.
“I had one vision that I wanted him to play one way. He wanted to go the other way. I couldn’t get to my way”, said D’Antoni.
For his part, Amar’e Stoudemire, a former Knicks player said: “If Lin stayed, it would have been cool. But everyone wasn’t a fan of him being the new star, so, he didn’t stay long. A lot of times you’ve got to enjoy someone else’s success, but that wasn’t the case for us during the stretch. You’ve got to enjoy that. You’ve got to let that player enjoy himself and cherish those moments. But he was becoming a star, and I don’t think everyone was pleased with that.”
D’Antoni’s brother Dan, who was the Knicks’ assistant coach that time, meanwhile, said, “It was hard to blend everything. You need to have spacing. Anthony wanted to get back to that spot where he’d ask for the ball in a certain area. The offense Lin was running was more free flow – attacking off the pick-and-roll and kicking it to shooters. Lin and Anthony had two different styles. Mike had a hard time with it.”In April of that year, Lin tore his left miniscus and required surgery. He sat out for the rest of the season. And just like the dazzling passing of a comet, Linsanity was extinguished as soon as it got lighted.
Lin currently plays for the Beijing Ducks in the Chinese Basketball Association./PN
