Chinese American Electrifies New York Knicks in NBA

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Jeremy Shu-How Lin

Jeremy Shu-How Lin (traditional Chinese: 林書豪; simplified Chinese: 林书豪; pinyin: Lín Shūháo; Pe̍h-ōe-jī: Lîm Su-hô; born August 23, 1988) is an American professional basketball player with the New York Knicks of the National Basketball Association (NBA). After receiving no athletic scholarship offers out of high school and being undrafted out of college, the Harvard University graduate reached a partially guaranteed contract deal with his hometown Golden State Warriors. Lin is one of the few Asian Americans in NBA history, and the first American player in the league to be of Chinese or Taiwanese descent.

On February 4, 2012, Lin had 25 points, five rebounds, and seven assists—all career-highs—in a 99–92 Knicks victory over the New Jersey Nets. After the game, Knick coach Mike D'Antoni said Lin has a point-guard mentality and "a rhyme and a reason for what he is doing out there." In the subsequent game against the Utah Jazz, Lin made his first career start. He had 28 points and eight assists. In a game against the Washington Wizards, Lin had 23 points and career-high 10 assists. It was his first double-double. On February 10, 2012, Lin scored a new career-high 38 points and had seven assists, leading the Knicks in their victory over the Los Angeles Lakers with a score of 92–85.

On February 11, Lin scored 20 points and had 8 assists in a narrow 100-98 victory over the Minnesota Timberwolves. This win extended the Knick's win streak to 5 games, and at 13-15, put the team into contention for the 8th playoff spot in the Eastern Conference. Lin scored 109 points in his first four career starts, the most by any player since the merger between the American Basketball Association (ABA) and the NBA in 1976–77. The Associated Press called Lin "the most surprising story in the NBA." Bloomberg News wrote that Lin "has already become the most famous [Asian American NBA player]." Knicks fans developed nicknames for him along with a new lexicon inspired by his name, Lin. Time.com ran an article titled, "It's Official: Linsanity Is for Real". Hall of Fame player Magic Johnson said, "The excitement [Lin] has caused in [Madison Square] Garden, man, I hadn't seen that in a long time."

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