#35, LINSANITY
Jeremy Lin + Insanity = LINSANITY
Jeremy Lin is a NBA player on the New York Knicks. He graduated from Harvard in 2010 and went undrafted in the NBA Draft. None of the thirty-two NBA teams thought Jeremy Lin was good enough to play professional basketball. This year, he played for the Golden State Warriors and the Houston Rockets, both of whom cut him from their teams. After being released by Houston, Jeremy was devastated, "There were nights where I was just reduced to tears, I couldn't take it anymore." He was a basketball player without a team, a man without a home.
A few weeks ago Jeremy Lin was signed by the New York Knicks. He seized the opportunity and shined. His achievements have quickly piled up,
- he helped the Knicks win seven games in a row
- he bested Kobe Bryant, one of the greatest NBA players of all time, in a game against the Los Angeles Lakers
- he lead the Knicks to defeat the defending world champion Dallas Mavericks on the biggest stage in sports, Madison Square Garden in New York City
- he is currently ranked in the top ten in player efficiency (http://goo.gl/4FrHd)
- he was the #1 trending topic worldwide on Twitter and has become one of the most significant sports stories of the past decade
In Taiwan, Jeremy has become so popular that his eighty-five year old grandmother has to fight off the press daily. In his grandmother's hometown, nearly all of the five hundred thousand residents watch each of Lin's games live. In China, Jeremy's face can be seen in nearly every single major newspaper and television station. In the U.S., Jeremy Lin's rise has become a unifying force for Asian-Americans, his underdog story a source of immeasurable pride. Even though Jeremy is Taiwanese, Koreans, Japanese, Chinese, and the like have poured out tremendous support for him.
Why do you think so much of the Asian population has shown such strong support for Jeremy Lin? Is it okay to root for Jeremy even if you are not Taiwanese? Personally, do you take pride when Asians succeed or just when Koreans succeed? Defend your position.
-Brenden Lee Teacher