Everybody loves a hero, but what they seem to love more is an underdog — especially in sports.
In an industry about winning and losing, sometimes a story comes along that makes people stop in their tracks, the most recent of which is the story of Jeremy Lin.
Lin is a guard for the New York Knicks and for those who don’t know his story, here’s a quick rundown.
Lin, who grew up in California, had no scholarship offers out of high school. He had several offers to walk on, but only Brown and Harvard guaranteed him a roster spot. Lin decided to go to Harvard and shined while he was there.
When it came time for the 2010 NBA draft, Lin’s name was never called. He was signed as a free agent for the Golden State Warriors, but received little playing time and was released after one year. The Knicks picked up Lin, but he was assigned to the Erie BayHawks of the D-League. On Jan. 20 Lin had a triple-double with the BayHawks and was brought up to the Knicks days later.
After a 25-point performance Feb.4, Lin got the opportunity to start. In his first start Lin had 28 points and eight assists. He followed it up with 23 points against Washington, 38 against the Lakers and 20 against the Timberwolves. Through his first four starts Lin has scored 109 points, the most anyone has scored since the NBA-ABA merger in 1976. That’s right — more than Michael Jordan, more than Allen Iverson and more than Shaquille O’Neal.
Just two weeks ago it looked like Lin’s basketball career was going nowhere, but he’s proved critics wrong again. As a result he’s become an instant star and Lin-mania is in full swing.
It’s similar in a lot of ways to Tim Tebow, who took over the starting quarterback job in Denver earlier this year, led a struggling team to the playoffs and beat the defending AFC champion Pittsburgh Steelers in the first round. He was never supposed to win, but he did and many fans now adore him. Tebow-mania took off and I must confess that I am guilty of Tebowing on a number of occasions.
Lin is quickly becoming the Tebow of the NBA. He wasn’t supposed to even play, but here he is with a 4-0 record as a starter in New York and averaging more than 20 points a game. When the Knicks called him up he was sleeping on his brother’s couch, and now he’s a superstar.
If the similarity of Tebow and Lin’s rapid ascent to stardom isn’t enough, did you know they’re both devout Christians? Lin said Tebow influenced the way he conducts himself, which is evident in his interviews. Both Tebow and Lin rarely take credit for what they do, instead they give credit to the team around them.
While there’s a lot of love for Tebow, there’s also a lot of hate and Lin will experience the same thing. Whether it’s for their faith, race, in the case of Lin, or conduct, they’ll find some enemies.
Tebow and Lin represent what’s great about sports. It’s not about the past, not about probabilities and not about stats, it’s about will. It’s about having the will to win. So love them or hate them, these two show us all that with hard work and will power great things can happen.
Kevin Bingaman can be reached at arg-sports
@uidaho.edu.