Jeremy Lin: An unlikely hero

It’s a story “almost too improbable for Disney,” said Bob Molinaro in the Norfolk Virginian-Pilot. Two weeks ago Jeremy Lin was an undrafted, unknown NBA vagabond, sleeping on his brother’s couch and buried deep on the bench of the struggling New York Knicks. Then the “Linsanity” began. Out of sheer desperation, the Knicks finally gave the 23-year-old Lin a chance to play. He promptly led the team to five straight wins, averaging an astonishing 27 points and eight assists a game, and inspiring his teammates with his guts and unselfishness. In less than a week, Lin became—with no exaggeration—the most-talked-about athlete on the planet. Lin’s sudden elevation to global superstardom owes something to his unlikely pedigree, said Jason Gay in The Wall Street Journal. The son of Taiwanese immigrants, he’s the only Asian-American in the NBA, and the first Harvard graduate since 1954. But make no mistake—“at the center of the frenzy is an undeniable truth: Jeremy Lin can play.”

“Somebody has to be the party pooper,” said Buzz Bissinger in TheDailyBeast.com, “so let’s cut right to the poop.” Lin got off to such a dazzling start mostly because he was unknown. Once his opponents stop underestimating him and start figuring out the weaknesses in his game, Lin’s numbers will return to earth. The “cold truth,” moreover, is that if Lin were black, there’d be far less excitement. The NBA and its fans have been desperate for a Great White Hope ever since Larry Bird retired; Lin plays into the stereotype that African-Americans succeed on raw physical talent, while lighter-complected jocks succeed because of smarts and determination.

This isn’t about race, said Peter Vecsey in the New York Post. Lin has become such a sensation because he represents “all the people who have been told since they were kids they wouldn’t amount to anything.” Lin never gave up on his NBA dream, even after being cut by two previous teams, and his sudden rise is like an “inspirational speech” to nerds and underdogs everywhere. For Asian-Americans, though, said Eric Liu in Time.com, there’s a special thrill in seeing Lin become so universally embraced. If he continues to dazzle, Lin might well be the first “Asian-American whom millions of other Americans want to be.” That would be a breakthrough that transcended anything he did on the court.

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