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America loves Jeremy Lin. And let me count the ways: the underdog story, his undeniably likeable personality, the way he seems totally unfazed by his success, the way he continues to deliver unbelievable performances. But to me what it comes down to is that this guy is obviously so good all of a sudden and yet just a month ago that fact was obvious to nobody.
There is something about this man that is just truly remarkable, and sometimes there aren’t perfect explanations to what makes a man remarkable. And as extraordinary as Jeremy Lin is, could it be even more amazing how the situation all came together at seemingly the perfect time and place for him to take a nation by storm? For even remarkable people need an opportunity to prove their own significance.
Count me as a fan of Lin, for all of the reasons above and many more. So don’t misunderstand me when I say that there was something about his emergence which wasn’t terribly astonishing to me. With the little knowledge I had of Lin at the time (I knew he was young, Asian, and quick with the ball), seeing him score 25 and 28 points in his first two real opportunities to play significant minutes in the NBA led me to the following conclusion: why not? (Side note: I admit my astonishment has increased markedly as he continues to pile up the stats and wins.)
The NBA is set up right now to encourage quick perimeter players to attack the basket off the dribble. Defensive rules have become so strict that on-the-ball defenders can’t really do much other than just try to slow a dribble drive to the basket and hope someone comes to help.
It only makes sense, then, that a player who understands this and is capable of it will take advantage of the system. Obviously, Lin is capable of this, and it’s hard to imagine how his coaches and teams could have missed this obvious fact. So why wasn’t he given the opportunity to do it before?
That seems to be the million-dollar question, and you surely have heard the most popular explanations: his race, his race, and oh yeah, his race. What else could it be?
I’m not going to claim that race never entered into the equation. But I think there’s actually a simpler, more universal phenomenon at work here, and it’s not racial prejudice. No, it’s basketball prejudice.
Here’s what I mean: there is often a tension between what basketball players do well and what their coaches want them to do. Player A might be good at a lot of things, but if the coach is looking for something else, Player A might never get a chance to do what he does best.
Lin is actually an example of someone whose coaches really did understand what he did well and let him do his thing, at every level he played… except the NBA. His first two NBA teams didn’t know what they had and let him go for nothing. And credit the Knicks for giving him the chance, but even then, it was only after a team already thin at his position became decimated with injuries, creating an opportunity for him.
Lin plays the point guard position, which is traditionally played by a solid, if not spectacular—even conservative—player whose job is to handle the ball, run the offense and often times little else.
But you don’t have to watch the NBA very long to realize that the best point guards in the NBA (Derrick Rose, Chris Paul, Deron Williams, et al.) are actually the spectacular types who can create their own offense (read: beat their defender off the dribble), and then either score themselves or assist easy baskets. Not exactly the game-manager types that have traditionally manned the position.
Lin fits the new NBA mold. Of course, he is a well-rounded player, but he’s not conservative at all. In fact, in addition to setting records for how many points he’s scored in his first handful of starts, he’s also set records by how many turnovers he’s accumulated.
Coaches hate turnovers, obviously. But they like winning more. And Lin has shown that the offense he generates easily offsets his truly alarming turnover rate, which leads one to believe that maybe there’s something new to be learned about how to evaluate a player and his statistics!
The other impressive part of Lin’s game that simply can’t be overlooked is his energy, his fire, his infectious personality and his chemistry with teammates. Yes, Lin has been singularly spectacular, but perhaps more impressive is how he’s lifted up his lowly teammates to such a level as he has, leading his team which had lost 11 of 13 games to seven straight victories and sustained success since.
And here again is something that is often surprisingly overlooked by coaches. Of course when asked, a coach would say he wishes every player would be like Lin: likable, coachable, hard worker, relentless energy, hustle, great teammate. However, put a player like that in front of them, and often times their blinded by that same player’s limitations. Coaches may not want to admit it, but they will more often than not pick the enigmatic, stubborn, lazy and selfish player if that same player shows more obvious/flashy talent.
But Lin, like all true innovations, is both new and not new at the same time. He does all the little things that good basketball players have always done, while taking advantage of a new era of NBA rules that enhance his talents.
And like all true American underdog stories, he has done it against all odds, and with charm to boot. What’s not to like, coach?
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