Deron Williams: Why NBA Fans Should Embrace Nets Star for Going at Jeremy Lin

Deron Williams had a spectacular game last night against Jeremy Lin. That was not a coincidence. Williams was the first of Lin's victims. If "Linmania" is a rocket, Deron Williams was its launchpad. 

Jeremy Lin came off the bench and scored 25 points and added seven assists off the bench. Then Williams had to read about it. It's not hard to imagine that this bothered Williams. 

Chuck Wilkins of the Los Angeles Times reports Williams said, 

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"I don't really watch SportsCenter, I don’t really watch too many games, but I do see Twitter and every three lines was, 'Jeremy Lin destroys Deron Williams' in the first game. So I definitely took offense to that."

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Wilkins expands:

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Williams said he's had Monday's rematch with Lin and the Knicks circled on his calendar ever since. "When somebody says they destroyed you, and you watch the tape and you don’t feel like you got destroyed, you circle those types of games," he said.

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So Williams set out to destroy Lin. And destroy him he did. He scored 38 points and added six assists. 

Lin's counter was not too shabby, though. He scored 21 points, and added nine assists, seven rebounds and four steals. 

True NBA fans—and true Knicks fans—should be happy about this development in "Linsanity." The reason is that that this is where Lin makes the transition from "surprise" to "opponent." This is where we find out whether he can really sustain it. 

A feel-good story has the shelf life of fresh fruit. As "Linsanity" gives way to the Lin game, it will be more about him as a valid NBA player and less about him as a story. Opponents will be focused on him, and planning for him. 

Yesterday was a good start. Williams took him seriously and went off on him, but he wasn't able to entirely shut him down, either. The hyperbole gave way to the reality, and the reality is a better story for the long haul.