I don’t want to talk about Jeremy Lin. I’m not going to come up with the next best nickname (really can’t be that hard). I just want to say Jeremy Lin is not a once in a lifetime sensation. He’s a basketball player.
He’s been playing the game like he has since he was a kid, with heart and passion for the game. Think about it. We’ve been force-fed the same over-payed, lazy, spoiled ballplayer who was labeled the next blah blah since he was in 8th grade. As a fan you tend to forget why you like the game when that happens.
Have you seen Moneyball? Maybe it’s time we stop looking at basketball players the same way. Despite living in Stanford’s backyard, and leading his high school team to a state championship, Lin wasn’t highly recruited. Despite shooting better than 50% his senior season at Harvard, Lin was hardly a consideration for the League.
Yes, I know heart and passion don’t always posses pure talent. But pure talent don’t always posses heart and passion. Lin has talent. He can shoot from outside, he can hit a mid-range jumper, and he can take you to the rim for a basket or an assist. Yes he turns the ball over, but when you see a guy who makes every person on his team play with confidence, it shows a leader, it shows heart.
It isn’t Jeremy Lin we love, it’s basketball, this kid just Lin-minded us. Damn, I couldn’t resist.
About Mike Johnson