Jeremy Lin: From Zero to Hero
(Photo by Chris Chambers/Getty Images)
What a whirlwind month it has been for the “hero from Harvard.” What a week it has been for “Linsanity.” Jeremy Lin has transformed his career, seemingly overnight, and it has been an honor and delight to watch this man and his successes. Despite his meteoric rise, however, he has long been laying the foundations for this breakout and, this past week, preparation met opportunity.
Following the NBA lockout, I made it a personal goal to support Jeremy at one of his games against the Washington Wizards this year (the team closest to Baltimore). What ensued was a rollercoaster ride for Jeremy. Instead of having a steady yet diminutive role with his beloved Golden State Warriors, he was cut on December 9 and picked up by the Houston Rockets. At that point in early December, one of my college friends Joony and I began to look for Rockets/Wizards tickets, targeting January 15 as a potential date. Then just as soon as he was picked up, he was cut by the Rockets on Christmas Day, probably the worst Christmas gift one could give a basketball player. It was a frustrating development, as Jeremy seemed to have fallen into a “journeyman” role of being bounced around the league. By the time Joony and I decided to go watch the New York Knicks (Jeremy’s latest team) take on the Wizards on January 6, neither of us could predict whether Jeremy would play, be in the D-League, or be on an entirely different team. It turned out he was still on the 15-man roster, but he was probably #15. Within the span of a month, he had moved across the United States without any guarantee, fighting for playing time.
He played zero minutes at that game. As we watched him throughout the game, there was excitement whenever he would stand up from the bench, but it was always to high-five his teammates or to cheer them on. This was a Bob Cousy award finalist that we had ravenously voted for during his senior year in 2010 (he finished neck-and-neck with John Wall, who would eventually become the #1 draft pick and the Wizards points guard). Yet never did it seem to cross the coach’s mind that they had a legitimate point guard wasting away on the bench. Nevertheless, Jeremy filled his role of cheering on his teammates with passion, respect, and aplomb.
As we met up with him after the game, Jeremy was one of the first out of the locker room and spent quite some time chatting with us after the game while NBA stars like Tyson Chandler, Amare Stoudemire, and Carmelo Anthony had yet to emerge. Jeremy told a funny story about how Baron Davis (one of the veteran point guards on the team) had been nagging at the benchwarmers to cheer harder for the starters and to high-five with gusto. Well, he fulfilled that mandate quite handedly.
Yet within two weeks of that game, I was devastated to get a text from one of my friends at Hopkins, Matt: “Jeremy to the d league :(“ Just like the year before with the Warriors, Jeremy was being sent to the D-League and no longer had even a chance at cracking the rotation.
Here’s the thing about Jeremy, though. He was not one to let his situation diminish his fervor for the game, and within a week he had recorded a massive triple-double (28 pts, 12 ast, 11 reb) and was back with the Knicks. Perhaps the Knicks had finally seen Jeremy’s potential?
This time, things seemed different. The Knicks had gone through much turmoil with injuries and frustrating losses, and Jeremy began receiving some meaningful minutes, playing 20 minutes against the Rockets at the end of January. Even within those limited minutes, he was racking up statistics like no other. Seeing the next Knicks/Wizards game on schedule for February 8, I began to feel excited that Jeremy would be playing a decent amount of minutes and showcasing his abilities.
The rest, as they say, is history. Jeremy exploded onto the national NBA scene on February 4 against the New Jersey Nets, and has gone on a historic tear since—enrapturing the basketball and Asian-American community like none other. When we made our second journey to the Verizon Center for the Knicks/Wizards game, the scene was completely different. There were the Asian girls who had no clue about the game of basketball but had caught the Jeremy Lin fever. There was Jeremy—now a starting point guard for the Knicks who had recently demolished the Utah Jazz to the tune of 28 points and 8 assists. And there was the crowd that was not exactly pro-Wizards or pro-Knicks. They were pro-Jeremy Lin.
This time, Jeremy was the last to get out of the locker room. Crushed with media attention (and attending to his cut chin), he barely had time to rush out of the locker room and say a brief hello before being ushered over to the team bus to return to New York. Amare and Carmelo were nowhere in sight while Tyson Chandler lingered and beamed about the Linsanity. How quickly things can change. And Jeremy has taken all of us across the world along for the ride.
Reflecting on Jeremy’s journey, what emerges is a picture of a man that embodies the characteristics that we all hope to possess and the traits that build towards success. No, not everyone can become a basketball star. However, there is much to learn from him about living life.
Take advantage of every situation, whether you like it or not. Jeremy had a triple-double within a week of being demoted to the D-League. The times in the D-League throughout his stint with the Warriors and currently with the Knicks gave him chances to improve his game. Seeing Jeremy play in college and watching him now, he’s added several subtle aspects to his game and conditioning that has allowed him to go toe-to-toe with Kobe Bryant, John Wall, and Deron Williams. I am convinced his foray into the D-League equipped him for this past week’s high-profile battles.
There is no luck in preparation, only in opportunity. Despite the media’s attempts to play Jeremy’s breakout games as an out-of-the-blue situation, the reality is that the explosive potential was always there. On a per-minute basis, Jeremy excelled due to his years of hard work, perseverance, and training. He was ready for the right moment to hit. Preparation and opportunity are not mutually exclusive. Once the preparation was there, all he needed was opportunity and he took off. When steady preparation meets opportunity, everyone better watch out.
Be proud of your heritage and faith. This may be the elephant in the room, but it is a reflection of Jeremy’s confidence and perseverance. In modern American society, many Asians and Christians are self-effacing and do not necessarily find pride in their background. I have heard Asians declare, “I hate Asians” but never the same negativity for one’s heritage from other races. Similarly, in the past few months, I have heard Christians disparage Tim Tebow for his public declarations of faith. Being Asian or Christian is not very “sexy” in pop culture and thus it is easy to deny oneself of such affiliations, especially in public. However, by doing so, each person displays an implicit insecurity with one’s identity. We all desire a world that is colorblind, but that will not come about from ignoring or rejecting what is innate to our life history. It is by laying out everything and wrestling with the tensions that we can reach a higher level of understanding. Jeremy embraces his Taiwanese and Asian-American identity while being honest about where he draws his confidence and perseverance—his faith. This self-acceptance leads to his ability to transcend such tensions with confidence and focus on the task at hand.
Treat everyone with respect and selflessness. Jeremy’s humble and self-assured nature is quite evident in all of his recent interviews as he always strives to pass the praise to his teammates. For me, the thing I remember most about Jeremy is the down-to-earth, relaxed nature that he always exuded. Whether it was running into him on University Avenue in Palo Alto during summer vacation or conversing with him at bible study, there was never the awkward distance that one may feel to a star college basketball player. In the offseason, he even played pickup basketball with us; fortunately I was on his team and could just observe The Jeremy Lin Show on our way to a 11-0 victory. When my fellow alum friends, Eddie and Eric, and I visited Harvard back in February 2010, he was more than willing to provide us with tickets to his game against Penn (in which he led Harvard to a 80-66 win with 19 points and 5 steals) in the midst of all the senior year hype and attention he was getting. And in recent days, it has not mattered whether it has been a college friend or Yao Ming congratulating him for his successes—he has embraced everyone in a display of humility and generosity that has colored his rise to prominence.
Just because someone else says “no” does not mean you tell yourself “no.” This has been true for Jeremy at every level of competition (as extensively detailed by various stories in the media). Step by step, game by game, he has steadily turned all of the no’s into yes’s.
Enjoy life and what you do, and have fun. Enough said.
What a joy to watch this humble yet confident guy go from zero minutes to the “hero from Harvard.” Regardless of what “experts” might say, Jeremy’s character and preparation has long laid the groundwork for his breakout, and now there will be no stopping him.
Linspiration, indeed.
