Jeremy Lin: Why Linsanity Is Great for the NBA

Ok, I’ll admit it; I’ve been struck by a case of Linsanity.

Growing up 30 miles outside of New York City back in the 1990s, life was all about basketball and the New York Knicks.

Between the ages of 6-15, everything revolved around basketball.

I played in two leagues plus summer leagues, fall leagues and every pickup game around the neighborhood that I could find.

Every birthday and Christmas list were the same—a new basketball, Knicks gear, new sneakers, etc.

I used to watch not only every Knicks game but just about every televised NBA basketball game. The NBA on TNT on Friday nights was like my version of childhood happy hour. My friends and I would often have sleepovers on Friday nights, stay outside playing basketball until the cold of the New York winter overcame us and we would then retire to the couch to watch the NBA on TNT until we couldn’t keep our eyes open anymore.

I was even lucky enough to attend Game 7 of the 1994 Eastern Conference finals when the Knicks finally knocked off the Chicago Bulls and advanced to the NBA Finals for the first time since 1973.

Those were the days of Michael Jordan, Patrick Ewing, Magic Johnson, Larry Bird, Hakeem Olajuwon, etc.  The NBA was exciting and it certainly grabbed the attention of a 12-year-old boy growing up outside of New York City.

But then we progressed into what I like to refer to as the dark ages of NBA basketball. You know, those years when guys like Allen Iverson were more concerned about sneaker contracts and rap videos than whether or not they won an NBA title.

When the U.S. Olympic teams couldn’t beat Podunk High School’s JV squad because no one wanted to pass the ball and everyone wanted to be the center of attention.

When an NBA game consisted of one player touching the ball on each possession, that player driving to the basket whether all five defenders were guarding him or not, missing a layup shot and then complaining to the refs for 10 minutes about how he was fouled.  

When the NBA consisted of players not only willing to fight each other on a nightly basis but also had no problem striking fans if they got too close to that evening’s Smackdown.

When guys would sit on front of cameras and say, “Next season I’ll be taking my talents to South Beach.”

All that was kind of a turnoff to me, and I began to migrate away from basketball and toward other sports like baseball, football and golf.

By the time 2000 rolled around, I rarely if ever watched an NBA basketball game, and since the mid-2000s NBA basketball has been almost non-existent to me.

But that all changed about two weeks ago.  

I now a grown man living in Atlanta—well, if you consider a 31-year-old who spends most of his free time watching and writing about other grown men playing ball games a “grown man”—and I have been struck by a bad case of Linsanity.

Jeremy Lin’s rapid and unlikely rise to the top of the game has been mesmerizing to say the least. The guy plays his heart out for 40 minutes a night, has averaged 26.8 points and eight assists over the past six games, and his intensity and love for the game has been infectious not only to the fans but for the rest of the Knicks.

The Knicks, who used to look like the cast of 12 angry men, now look more like the cast of "Happy Days."  They are like a giddy bunch of kids who were just given a brand new basketball to use for their schoolyard pickup game.  

Linsanity, probably similar an actual case of insanity, has slowly overtaken me.   

I first read about Lin in the New York Daily News a couple of weeks ago, and as his star began to grow I started watching some of his highlights on ESPN. 

As he has now become the NBA’s version of Tim Tebow, I actually found myself sitting in front of the computer last night debating whether or not to purchase NBA.com’s League Pass so I could watch the rest of the Knicks season online.  

I decided against purchasing the League Pass, but I did spend the rest of the night checking in on NBA.com to follow the score of the Knicks vs. Raptors game.

Heck, I don’t know if I had ever been to NBA.com prior to last night, let alone ever thought about shelling out $30 to watch basketball games on the computer.

But it’s Linsanity; I can’t help it.

And following his game-winning three-pointer with 0.5 seconds left last night, I may just purchase that League Pass.

Now, I don’t know if Lin’s the real deal or not, or just how long this miracle run will last for him and the Knicks.

But I do know this.

Jeremy Lin has caught my attention and brought me back to the game of basketball for the first time in more than 15 years, and I feel that I am not alone in that.

And that can’t be a bad thing for the NBA.