COMMENTARY | The recent emergence of a New York Knicks basketball player to national prominence is nothing short of astounding. Professional football had Tim Tebow, and now professional basketball has Jeremy Lin. This is all too weird.
I cannot remember anything like this in my lifetime. The last sports story beside these two was a young Detroit Tigers pitcher name Mark Fidrych. Fidrych came out of nowhere to win the 1976 Rookie of the Year award. He was nicknamed the “Bird” because he resembled Big Bird from “Sesame Street” — all with big wonky hair. He not only threw a good fastball, but would talk to himself, talk to the ball and sit down and clean his cleats. He became a media sensation. Baseball was grabbing all the headlines again.
Just after we exhale from Tim Tebow phenomena, here is a real unknown tearing up the league. But what makes this story special is that he is Asian American. I spent some time in the Philippines in 2010. Nearby where I was staying some local young guys had put up a basketball hoop and backboard attached to a banana tree. I would go over every day and play with them. Many of them wore NBA player jerseys. They were thrilled to talk to an Americano. They knew almost everything there is to know about the NBA. They had just finished watching the NBA finals on television.
I can tell you these guys were good! Just like Jeremy Lin, they were fearless driving the ball to the hoop. Have you ever seen video of Manny Pacquiao? He owns a basketball team there in the Philippines. He has a wicked crossover, and can jump pretty good. Of course, everyone lets him come right in to the hoop. No sense to make this guy mad.
Also, when I was there, I got hooked on the Philippine Basketball Association. The games come on at least twice a week on television. The games were highly entertaining and competitive. They could only have two foreigners on the roster. The games are played at hyper speed level.
This is perhaps the best thing to happen to the National Basketball Association this year. After a long labor strike and lockout (during a crushing recession), many wondered if the league could maintain its popularity. Asian countries love basketball. American football may be king here, but it has not translated well to other countries. Jeremy Lin has become a big ticket item for the league. And if Jeremy Lin continues to play well, he might also be able to sign some big ticket checks.