don't get me wrong, I do appreciate it. it's amazing.
the fact that Lin has acquit himself as a very solid player despite the way he started in the league is a great story.
i'm not about to try to forecast how long this is going to last. i think he's a legit player. what he's doing goes beyond shooting streaks.
but i think it's important, in order to really appreciate the value of what we're seeing here -- and i mean that in a totally positive sense -- not to overhype or exaggerate what he's doing. what we're seeing shouldn't be treated as just a "feel-good" story. i felt the same way about the Tebow thing. i'm happy for him, and it's exciting to follow.
but let's try to be objective about what he's doing so we can give him the fair chance of being exactly what he wants to be -- a legit NBA player like all the other guys out there who don't get the puppydog treatment just because they were undrafted or are of an uncommon race (for the NBA).
Tbh, I feel like I'd rather just be objective about everything else in the world, and join in the Linsanity to just enjoy the moment. Basketball is an outlet, to me, rather than another serious deal.
Buy the ticket, take the ride.
i just think treating it like that is in some weird way actually kind of disrespectful to Lin and what he's doing, just as the Tebowmania was kind of detrimental to Tebow's journey to being seen as a legitimate NFL quarterback. if you treat him as just a storyline, a sideshow, the plot of the next feel good sports movie, you assume it's all going to end soon enough and that the only thing that makes the kid worth following is the run he's on, not his talent as a player.
the sense i get is that people find Lin so exciting because it's as if some kid from the local Y got a chance to start in the NBA and suddenly he's tearing it up -- the key part of that being that Lin is cast as somebody who doesn't really belong, who isn't actually an elite athlete; he's just a normal guy.
I disagree, as I think people are very able to see that he's more than capable. The reason they're cheering this loud, is because he's an unexpected gem. Nobody saw him coming. You have this team with a bunch of superstars, and suddenly, this tiny Asian dude (who people can relate to easier) hits a game-winning three, makes an awkward face while poking out a blue tongue, or celebrates some timely points while a bandage hangs from under his chin.
It's Lin they like. He's "real", closer to "us" than some of the other athletes.
That's why I think he's being cheered for this loud. That's why I like him. That's why I watch Knicks games and cheer for him to do something amazing again.
that's the point, though. the "he's closer to us" thing is actually kind of a slight on him. it's exciting because he's a "normal" person playing with the professional athletes and somehow succeeding.
yet i'm sure he wants to be seen as a professional athlete who belongs out there just as much as all the rest of them. he's not like "us."
honestly, if he weren't Asian and if he hadn't gone to Harvard, this would still be a story, but it wouldn't be "Linsanity." If he were black and had gone undrafted from, say, Georgia Tech, the talk would be more about how so many teams missed on him, not primarily on the "run" he's on (again, 'run' implies that this is just a streak, a fluke).
Topic: Jeremy Lin (merged threads) (Read 95310 times)