Jeremy Lin reflects on ‘hostile relationship with Linsanity’ and making peace with phenomenon born 10 years ago on this day
- The 33-year-old calls his NBA peak a ‘lightning in a bottle’ moment and continues to be ‘shocked’ at its impact on Asian-American culture
- ‘As I went through Linsanity … I started to see the world for what it is, which is a very broken world with a lot of injustice, racism and stereotyping’ Lin says
On February 10, 2012, an undrafted 23-year-old Taiwanese -American NBA rookie had the whole world on the edge of their seats as he dominated Kobe Bryant’s Los Angeles Lakers.
Filling in for a struggling New York Knicks, Jeremy Lin would proceed to go on a legendary two-week tear of the postseason finals in what will forever go down as the “Linsanity” era, a phenomenon that transcended sports.
Still a largely unknown point guard, Lin had announced himself six days earlier after dropping 25 points, seven assists and five rebounds against the New Jersey Nets, to give the Knicks a rare win having lost 11 of their previous 13 games.
A couple of days later, he posted 28 points and eight assists against the Utah Jazz, then dominated the Washington Wizards to go three for three.
Heads had turned as the Harvard University graduate’s 109 points across his opening four starts was 10 more than Michael Jordan.
But fans marked the unofficial beginning of “Linsanity” in a 38-point bonanza against Bryant’s Lakers.
Lin’s game-winning three against the Toronto Raptors on Valentine’s Day 2011 is widely considered “peak Linsanity”, as he helped the perennial butt-of-jokes Knicks win 10 of 13 games.
