The Fan Hub

All it took was Mike Breen to utter three words following the New York Knicks’ victory over the Nets, and the "Hero From Harvard" was born.  

It's hard to imagine that its been less than a week since Breen introduced the world to Jeremy Lin, the 6’3” sophomore point guard out of Harvard University, but New York minutes have a history of absorbing more time.  Lin has gotten more media exposure over the past six days than most professional athletes would in a lifetime, with the #17 legend growing to the likes of Chuck Norris and Tim Tebow.  But why Lin, why now?

New York and the sports media world has been searching for a story that can carry the same substantial weight that Tebowmania did throughout the NFL regular season, and the Giants did with winning the Super Bowl.  Just as the embers of the Super Bowl media fire burned out, Jeremy Lin shot from the ashes like a Phoenix strapped to a jet-pack, tearing through the roof of Madison Square Garden and leaving a trail of smoke that could be seen throughout the nation.

We can attribute approximately 35% of the hype to Lin's success on the court these past three games in which he has averaged 25.3 points, 8.3 assists, and 1.6 steals.  If these had been the point guard's averages throughout the team's 26 games (instead of three), it would rank him among the highest in the league. He’s also the first player to average over 20 points and 8 assists in his first two career starts since LeBron James did it in 2003.

Just as the embers of the Super Bowl media fire burned out, Jeremy Lin shot from the ashes like a Phoenix strapped to a jet-pack.

It's also not the fact of what Lin has accomplished in the past six days, but how he's done it that has people going Lin-sane.  Only two starts into his NBA career, and Jeremy Lin is already drawing comparisons to Steve Nash with highlight reels strung together by plays of him splitting two defenders, contorting his body in midair, selflessly dishing, and crossing over the first overall pick in last year's draft to dunk it home.

The other 65% can be attributed to two things: his ethnicity and collegiate background.  In a league whose talent pool is quite monotonous, made mostly of African-American and white players, Lin provides fans with a breath of fresh air.  His play has resonated most with Asian-American fans, who are strong in numbers but have so few players to relate to.

His collegiate career only adds more fuel to the media fire.  Lin is just the second Ivy Leaguer to play in the NBA since Yale graduate Chris Dudley in 2003.

But just who is Jeremy Lin?  It's a question that would have stumped most New Yorkers and NBA fans a week ago and may still puzzle some MSG security personnel today.

Not even his own Knick teammates really know.  Following his showstopping crossover dunk, center Tyson Chandler admitted, “I didn’t know he could dunk. When he was going in for a dunk I was like ‘No Jeremy, just lay the ball up’ and all of sudden he dunks it. I probably was just as excited as the crowd was.”

It's not hard to imagine that Lin has held back his true talents in the few practices the Knicks have held, making Chandler's claim valid, but this is coming from a guy who has been on the same team as Lin on two separate occasions.

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Before the two became teammates in New York on December 27, Chandler and Lin briefly shared roster spots on the 2010 Dallas Mavericks.  Jeremy joined the team after going undrafted, participating in Mini Camp as well as the annual Summer League held in Las Vegas.  Dallas would inevitably wind up releasing him, but not before he turned a few general mangers’ heads with his match-up against first overall pick John Wall, which would serve as a foreshadowing for the game that would introduce Lin-Sanity to the world.

Landry Fields should know; the city's newest hero has found refuge on the Stanford guard's couch.  Lin tweeted after the victory on Saturday night, "Glad we got the win!! Thanks to @landryfields for lettin me crash on his couch last night lol"

It was actually the second couch that he’s slept on in the past week. Lin has been sleeping in the living room of his brother Josh, a dental student at NYU, perhaps because his $800,000 contract had been up in the air until Wednesday afternoon when the Knicks guaranteed payment. No person has seen a bigger turnaround in their career since Jewel traded living residency in her car for platinum records

How real is this phenomenon?  Although some have jumped head first into it, critics and self-proclaimed realists alike are quick to write off the grandeur of his success, as they feel it has come against less than stellar opponents.  The combined record of the Knicks’ last three opponents is 26-51, with the Utah Jazz being the only team with a winning record of 13-11.  Friday night's game against the Los Angeles Lakers, however, will be a true test.

No one is doubling down on the Linsanity phenomenon more than the Knicks themselves.  The team has plastered Lin's image all over their homepage well as the team's Facebook page, even going as far as to replace Carmelo Anthony in all of their slander ads against Time Warner.  MSG is making sure they see every cent of that $800,000 contract returned in full.  The PR move also serves as a means for the Knicks to profit off the one sole bright spot in their season, as the team has faced its fare share of almost "summoned" hardships.

D'Antoni may be the biggest believer in Linsanity, admitting to reporters that he was riding the Harvard grad's success "like friggin' Secretariat."

With all of the hardships surrounding the Knicks this season, media outlets soon turned their words on head coach Mike D'Antoni, printing rumors that owner James Dolan was looking to hand the veteran coach a pink slip, replacing him with defensive coach Mike Woodson.  The rumors claimed the Saturday before the Super Bowl would be all she wrote for D'Antoni, but Lin helped turn everything around at the proverbial 11th hour.

As such, D'Antoni may be the biggest believer in Linsanity, admitting to reporters that he was riding the Harvard grad's success "like friggin' Secretariat."  With the team on a three game win-streak and New York City in a frenzy, the move to insert him into the lineip has paid off in huge dividends for the coach, disarming Dolan of his sword and buying himself time.

Kobe and the gang will be out to denounce the "Legend of Lin” on Friday night, and Dolan is sure to be watching with a close eye from his luxury box. Several questions will be answered.  Is Lin the perfect point guard for D'Antoni's system?  Can he play with the same level of intensity against a worthy opponent?  Is this all just a facade?  

No matter what the the outcome may be, we all will remember the six days when the "Hero From Harvard" captivated the city and made us remember why they all fell in love with basketball in the first place.