What Jeremy Lin Teaches Us About Talent

Linsanity! For those who don’t follow the NBA, or read the NY Post, or check Twitter during Knicks games, Jeremy Lin is a new point guard who has been churning out a series of incredible performances. Last week, he torched the Lakers for 38 points; last night, he hit a three pointer at the buzzer to beat the Raptors. What makes Lin’s story even more remarkable is that he has been repeatedly spurned by basketball professionals. Although Lin dreamt of attending UCLA or Stanford, neither college offered him a scholarship. He ended up at Harvard.

Although Lin excelled in the Ivy League and broke numerous basketball records, he wasn’t selected in the 2010 NBA draft.

Eight teams had invited Lin to predraft workouts. Diepenbrock said that NBA tryouts do not play five on five. Lin acknowledged that the workouts were “one on one or two on two or three on three, and that’s not where I excel. I’ve never played basketball like that.”

Lin was eventually signed by the Warriors, but he was soon placed on the inactive list and repeatedly sent down to the D-League affiliate. Last December, Lin was waived by the Warriors, picked up and then waived by the Rockets, before finally being claimed by the Knicks as a backup point guard.

New York considered releasing Lin before his contract became guaranteed on February 10 so they could sign a new player. However, after the Knicks squandered a fourth quarter lead in a February 3 loss to the Boston Celtics, coach Mike D’Antoni decided to give Lin a chance to play. “He got lucky because we were playing so bad,” said D’Antoni.[94] Lin had played only 55 minutes through the Knicks’ first 23 games.

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