
Following the Lin-sanity of late, 2K Sports is doing their part to contribute to the hype machine. When Jeremy Lin was initially added to the Knicks roster his overall rating was a measly 56. On Feb. 15th, 2K Sports showed Lin some post Valentine’s Day love by boosting his overall stat to 69. Today’s update boosts Lin’s stats to a whopping 75 overall.
Jeremy Lin’s journey has been exciting to watch and his story is fascinating and marketable. Many people fall back on pointing the racial finger at coaches and scouts for failing to see Jeremy Lin’s abilities for what they are. I however look at his stats and college history and see his journey as one of happenstance and unfortunate situations.
In the beginning he was a very good high school player who took his team to a division championship. Many college scouts at that level look for supreme athletes which Jeremy Lin was not. If Lin looked like Lebron James did in high school he would have got a ton of scholarship offers. This has nothing to do with race, other than the fact that Lebron James is African American and we haven’t seen a comparable specimen who is Asian American. Even Lin admitted “I just think in order for someone to understand my game, they have to watch me more than once, because I’m not going to do anything that’s extra flashy or freakishly athletic.”
Jeremy Lin sent applications and DVDs of his games to Ivy League schools. This is as stereotypical as this story is going to get. Not because of coaches or scouts being racist but because of his cultural upbringing and parental influence. Harvard’s assistant coach Bill Holden was not initially impressed by Lin but after watching more of Lin, he saw how aggressive he was driving to the lane. Harvard guaranteed him a spot on the basketball team but do not offer athletic scholarships.
Again, Lin had a solid career. He set Harvard records and won awards but still was not overly athletic and did not dominate the competition at his level. Lin went undrafted, just like every other Ivy League player since 1995. Jeremy Lin had a strong debut in the NBA summer league, teams were interested but Lin took a lower contract to sign with his home town Warriors. Looking back this move hurt his rookie season. Getting playing time with players like Monta Ellis and Stephen Curry on the roster would be tough.
In his first year in the NBA Lin did not get much playing time but when he did he was greeted with cheers from his hometown fans. He put a lot of pressure on himself and did not perform well at home. Lin was waived to make room to sign DeAndre Jordan. When the Rockets picked Lin off of waivers they already had Kyle Lowry, Goran Dragić and Jonny Flynn. All were proven starters, Lin would have no chance getting playing time. Subsequently, Lin would be waived again in the same offseason. Lin was then signed by the Knicks to fill in their roster which was already thin at guard. The rest is history, without much racial stigma at all.
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