ListenGood: February 2012 Archives

During Jeremy Lin's dizzying rise from obscurity to fame, before the New York Knick's promotion department had even printed the fan posters, the point guard had been held up as poster boy for a variety of things. Christian faithful pointed to his unabashed faith, fashioning him the successor to quarterback Tim Tebow on a touched-by-god run. Author Gish Jen reflected on his success with a New York Times Op-Ed. piece titled "Asian Men Can Jump." And Lin has become, for many, the newest little guy who can topple giants (in the NBA, that works even if you're 6'3").

But for me the message in the story of this undrafted benchwarmer who was about to be waived from his third team, a guy who two weeks ago was hoping to simply play in the NBA and now, suddenly, can harbor legitimate dreams of lasting stardom, is simply the fact that his ability to do what he's done--to score 20-plus points in six straight games, distribute 13 assists in a seventh, beat the Lakers in crunch time and then go one better by burying Toronto with a three-pointer in the waning second of regulation--eluded the many coaches, scouts and experts charged with evaluating talent and achievement potential.