"Lin-sanity"

In the past 14 days, Asian-American Jeremy Lin has gone from benchwarmer to global basketball star. Starting his career in the NBA only 2 weeks ago, Jeremy has led the New York Knicks to 7 consecutive wins. Lin, an Economics major at Harvard, has been seemingly overlooked as a basketball player since high school. Now, he is the very first American-born player of Chinese or Taiwanese descent in the NBA, and he is finally receiving his long-deserved chance.

The question that so many College and NBA coaches are asking themselves right now is, “How could I have missed such a talented and gifted player?” Arne Duncan, US Secretary of Education and former Harvard basketball player, believes he knows why Lin’s extraordinary talent flew under the radar for so long:

"This is classic low expectations, and frankly stereotyping," Duncan said. "He was underappreciated and under-recognized. The fact that he's Asian-American, those two things are absolutely linked."

Lin agrees, saying that race has always played a factor in his basketball career. Asians in America tend to be stereotyped with over-achievement in education-oriented pursuits, not athletic ones. This may have contributed to the reasons why Lin had been so overlooked through his years playing basketball. In high school, Lin had excelled in his studies, as well as on the court. However, given the lack of Chinese or Taiwanese players that played college basketball and ultimately made it to the NBA, Lin was rarely considered as athletic scholarship “material.”

Things have seemed to shift in Lin’s favor starting when Knicks’ Coach Mike D'Antoni desperately expressed a need for a new point guard because his were all injured. Lin, still undrafted, was invited to try out for a spot. Since then, Lin has continued to succeed and thrive in his new role as an NBA star.

Lin’s unexpected success has not only had an impact on the Knicks’ record, but also on Asian-Americans, and other minority groups for that matter. Lin is proof that you don’t need to fit a stereotypical checklist, other than ability and willingness to work hard, in order to make it in the NBA. Lin hopes that his recent basketball achievements will open the doors for other young, basketball-aspiring Asian-Americans, comparing it to how Tiger Woods introduced watching and playing golf to new demographics.

With such a sudden burst of popularity, it would be easy for a new player like Lin to come off as cocky and arrogant. However, Lin remains humble and modest; he is incredibly grateful for such a wonderful opportunity.

In this video, Lin describes this entire experience as a “blessing,” and his appreciation and love for the game is evident: