All his life they told him he wasn’t big enough for basketball. Now, the Asian economics major from Harvard, having been cut by two other pro teams, has become a global sensation driving his once-faltering team, the New York Knicks, to 7 straight wins. His sudden emergence as a New York phenomenon has earned him nicknames like, “Lin-sanity” and “Super Lintendo”.
Until recently, the Taiwanese-American was confined to his team’s bench and sleeping on his brother-in-law’s couch to save money. Since February 4th, however, the 6-foot-3-inch guard has been the hottest thing in American sports, scoring more points in his first five starts (136) than anyone since 1977, topping stars like Michael Jordan and Shaquille O’Neal.
Lin received no athletic scholarship offers out of high school and was undrafted after graduating from Harvard in 2010. In late 2011, Lin spent less than two weeks with the Houston Rockets, moving to the New York Knicks at the very end of the year. Last week, New York even considered releasing Lin before his contract became guaranteed so they could sign a new player.
He is one of the few Asian Americans in NBA history, and the first American player in the league to be of Chinese or Taiwanese descent. He was featured on the cover of Sports Illustrated this week with the headline “Against All Odds” and made the front-pages of many Taipei newspapers.
Best of all, Jeremy Shu-How Lin is a humble man, a team player and all-around nice guy, who gives constant thanks to God.
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