Jeremy Lin: Adding NBA's Hottest Story to All-Star Weekend a No-Brainer

The NBA (and really any professional sport) does a terrific job of maximizing the attention that its stars get to squeeze every last dollar out of their fans.

This year there has been no bigger star than the New York Knicks' Jeremy Lin, and that means he has to be a part of next week’s All-Star Weekend festivities somehow.

According to Frank Isola of the New York Daily News, the NBA is thinking the exact same thing:

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According to a source, the NBA is hoping to add Lin to its All-Star lineup by having him participate in the Haier Shooting Stars competition during All-Star Saturday night. The competition features one current NBA player, one current WNBA player and one TNT on-air talent and legend on each team.

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Placing him in the actual All-Star game is a bit much, considering he only has five career starts. He doesn’t have the hops for the Slam Dunk Contest, but the Skills Challenge is perfectly fitted for his style of play. For now though, the Shooting Stars competition is what the league is targeting.  

Lin may have only entered your consciousness a week ago or so, but that doesn’t mean he isn’t deserving. The past week has been one that the NBA hasn’t seen come around in a long time.

Not only has a player come out of nowhere to dominate in the biggest market in the league, but he is one of the more unique players to ever don that famous Jerry West logo.

Harvard educated and of Asian-American decent, Lin is as common as an alligator in New York City. His easy-going personality has translated extremely well to the fans and he’s beginning to receive a Tebow-like cult following. People can’t get enough.

His game-winning three-pointer on Monday night in the Knicks' 90-87 win was something straight out of a movie script.

After being outplayed by Jose Calderon for the vast majority of the night while turning the ball over eight times, Lin never wavered in his confidence and ended up scoring 12 points in the fourth quarter to finish with 27 and 11 assists.

The entire country is paying attention…even the president, according to ESPN New York:

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White House communications director Dan Pfeiffer told ESPN.com that President Barack Obama has been following Lin this past week and watched Lin hit the game-winning 3-point shot that beat the Raptors Tuesday night in Toronto.

The president discussed the shot with aides on Marine One earlier Wednesday on the way to Andrews Air Force Base, before flying to Milwaukee.

White House spokesman Jay Carney said Lin's success is "just a great story, and the president was saying as much this morning.”

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Every other team has been asked about "Linsanity" and he even caught the attention of Floyd Mayweather.

He is the biggest story in sports. What better way to give him the national spotlight than throwing him in the Skills Challenge?

Make it happen, David Stern.