I’ve been a fan of Jeremy Lin since his duel with John Wall during the 2010 NBA Summer League.
I had no clue he would be this good, but I like to see the best players play and you can see Lin’s team is genuinely excited for him even in summer league.
The Good: He’s making one of the great NBA franchises relevant
The Sports Guy addresses the question “How could 29 teams miss so badly” in his all Lin mailbag:
On the other hand, if you zip through everyone’s rosters, it makes a little more sense: Either teams had already invested draft picks in young backup points (Jimmer Fredette, Avery Bradley, Josh Selby, etc.), traded for ones that needed to play (Goran Dragic, Jerryd Bayless, etc.), overpaid for them in free agency (Bassy Telfair, Jordan Farmar, etc.), made moves for a backup before Lin became available (Utah, New Orleans, Atlanta, etc.), couldn’t get rid of the ones they had (Derek Fisher, Chris Duhon, Beno Udrih, etc.) or were already stacked at the position (Denver, the Clippers, Portland, Philly, etc.). The only teams that had no excuse: Golden State (who had him!), Washington (unless you’re a big Shelvin Mack fan), Phoenix (who never should have invested in Telfair to begin with) and, of course, the Lakers (who totally whiffed). Of course …
This is the truth. The real point being: the Warriors really f*cked up and the Lakers really f*cked up. Not that Asians don’t get a fair shake. (It may be the case, but it isn’t proven). The NBA is the American sport that has truly internationalized their game from a marketing and player scouting perspective (sorry being big in Latin America , Korea and Japan isn’t enough MLB and neither is being big in Cold Weather countries NHL). 1st year Warriors coach Mark Jackson told San Francisco Chronicle “it ain’t my fault:
“That’s the extent of our relationship,” Jackson said before Sunday’s game against Houston, which waived Lin on Christmas Eve. “I got a text message from Spike Lee (on Saturday) morning, thanking me, like I had something to do with it. I never saw him do a layup, so people can stop asking me. He never practiced for us, so leave me out of it.”
So basically: it’s on the front office guys, wasn’t me! Either way, Lin landed in a perfect spot. A Knicks franchise that traded away the heart of their roster to the Nuggets for Carmelo Anthony and a 1 yr Rent-a-billups that was sputtering through a let down season is being juiced up by Lin.
People are wondering whether Carmelo Anthony can work with Lin. I would just say: Carmelo is a champion and a gold medal winner. Give him the pieces and he’ll fit. We know Amare can work with a point guard, he thrived in Phoenix. I think New York fans and Melo haters can chill out. This is a great situation for the team and it’s stars. Lin also hit a huge money pot. He steps into a void left by Yao Ming.
The Great: He’s actually the reason they are winning
And he’s not Tebow. The Knicks are currently being put over the top by Jermey Lin, the Broncos won mostly in spite of Tim Tebow.
The Bad: Lin’s resurgent Knicks play in my 76ers division so that just made this season harder.
The Ugly: Racist, sexist nonsense from people who should know better.
I’ll be seeing them play my 76ers at the Wells Fargo Center in March. Hoping we cure “Lin related ailments”, at least for a night.