The Next Big Thing: Lin or Out?

The most talked-about athlete on the planet right now...

At the time of my last blog, I must admit that I had no idea who Jeremy Lin was. Lin played a collective 48 minutes in 20 games prior to February 1st. Two weeks later, he has me writing the first non-Lebron NBA blog since February of 2011 (Knicks acquisition of Carmelo Anthony).

The Knicks' sheepish start to the season had sufficiently stomped out my NBA rooting interest after the NFL season. It was promising to be a long month and a half before baseball opening day. The tide began to sway on February 10th with a simple text message from my wife: "Lin is amazing"  My reply: "who?" 

This fan likely had no idea who Jeremy Lin was last Valentine's Day.

What prompted the exchange of texts was Lin's dominating 38 point performance against the Lakers, in a game that the Knicks were without both Carmelo and Amare. It was this performance (not his previous three 20+ point efforts) that catapulted him to "household name" status. He absolutely lit up the Lakers on ESPN. A remarkable run for an undrafted player from basketball power Harvard who bounced around last year and was on nobody's radar yet this year.

How big is Jeremy Lin? Go ahead, type "jer" into google. The first three quick search terms are (in order):

jeremy lin
jersey shore
jerry sandusky

I'm not making that up. Try it. That's how big he is. Bigger than Snooks. Bigger than Sandusk.

Can't hide from Google...

OK...so 3 of the first 4 quick search terms...who cares about Jersey Gardens anyway?

In the 7 games since Lin began to rack up 30+ minutes per night, he has averaged 25.0+ppg with roughly 10 assists per. He has pulled the Knicks out of an 8-15 hole to .500 and into the 8th playoff spot in a span of 10 days. He may have single-handedly saved Mike D'Antoni's job. He has provided, in advance, the spark that people were expecting from a healthy Baron Davis.

He has endeared himself to America as the lovable underdog. The sports fan loves to embrace something they don't see every day. As an Asian-American player who is Harvard-educated, Lin would fit that criteria.

Only 3 players in the history of the NBA have come from Harvard...His Taiwanese heritage contributes to the his lore, as he is among the few Asian players in the NBA.

Will he have staying power? Only time will tell...but usually you don't put up the type of numbers that Lin has the past ten days and then fade away into obscurity. Is he a 25ppg player? Probably not. When the Knicks are at full strength, the scoring responsibility will be spread around. Lin could be a solid 15.0 ppg, 8.0 apg presence on the floor going forward.