Most basketball fans and even some non-basketball fans have been experiencing some LINsanity this week as the undrafted, Asian-American, Harvard grad has taken New York by storm with a run of three straight games where he’s averaged 25.3 ppg & eight assists per game.
When asked about Lin last night, Lakers superstar Kobe Bryant responded:
“I don’t even know what he’s done. I have no idea what you guys are talking about. I’ll take a look at it tonight, tho.” via @KevinDing
Well Kobe, this is what we’re here for, so we’re going to try and give you and the rest of Lakers Nation a little background behind the kid being called Shao-Lin.
Some would say that this performance came out of nowhere, but the hardcore NBA fans have known Lin’s name ever since 2010 when he starred in summer leagues for the Dallas Mavericks, where he was giving then number one draft pick John Wall an extremely competitive game, aka “the business.”
After the summer league, Lin was being courted by the Mavs, Warriors and yes, the Lakers. Lin decided to head back to his home in the Bay Area, even though he was offered higher contracts by the other teams. Once Lin started playing for the Warriors, the large population of Asian Americans went crazy every time Lin would get off the bench during garbage time of Warrior games.
The celebrations and buzz that Lin became the first American born Asian player to play in the NBA did not come unwarranted. Lin made his debut versus the Lakers and played hard in the 16 minutes he was out on the floor, leaving Lakers resident blue collar player, Derek Fisher, impressed:
“He plays with good energy on the floor. He’s aggressive. He plays hard. He’s not afraid of the competition.” – Derek Fisher via USA Today
With Lin playing on the west coast, it was difficult for the rest of the country to appreciate what was going on, but now that Lin has emerged with the New York Knicks, in the biggest media market in the world, a rebirth of his popularity is currently underway.
As previously mentioned above, Lin has dominated the last three games with his superb play on the offensive side of the ball. Within Mike D’Antoni’s system, Lin has excelled on the pick and roll plays, filling in the role of D’Antoni’s previous PG maestro, Steve Nash.
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