Jeremy Lin Is Just What NBA Needed This Season

In the season following the dreadful 161-day NBA lockout, newcomer Jeremy Lin is a breath of fresh air. The New York Knicks point guard isn't just good for the inhabitants of Madison Square Garden, he's just what the NBA needed in a make-or-break season.

Plain and simple, the lockout was terrible. Absolutely preposterous.

It was a ridiculous, elongated negotiation between gluttonous business men who scratched and clawed for every single percentage point of basketball-related income. The season was delayed almost two months, which could have spelled disaster for the league (even more so than it already did). Public opinion was not favorable, to put it politely.

And then, Jeremy Lin came around. The lockout was forgotten.

Great players aren't supposed to come out of the blue in the NBA. It happens in other sports (Tim Tebow, Mark Fidrych) but not in basketball. In basketball, if scouts don't deem you to have the athletic ability or talent necessary to succeed in the league, chances are you won't. You probably won't even get a chance.

Jeremy Lin is perfect for the association. He's a down-to-earth team player. A kid who's obviously having the time of his life on the court. He's an inspiration to unheralded young players, showing them that they can reach their goals. This positive image and uplifting story is so important in a league that is often marred with off-the-court issues.  

The "Linsanity" phenomenon has brought to the NBA something that it has never seen before. A great, marketable Asian-American point guard. It's getting a bit ridiculous that everyone writing about Lin brings up his race, but it's hard not to.

There are those who portray his race in a negative light (Floyd Mayweather). But there are also those who are cherishing what the young Harvard graduate has accomplished early in his career.

One of the people who loves what Lin is doing is NBA Commissioner David Stern. Over the last two weeks, every time he's made a public appearance, you can almost see the dollar bill signs in those cold, evil eyes.

Lin is marketable, and Stern knows it.

His jersey has become the No. 1-selling piece of merchandise in the NBA, and that won't change anytime soon.

Remember Yao Ming? He was an All-Star every year from 2003-2009. This was partially because he got so many votes from the Asian community (both in the US and abroad). Could the same thing happen to Lin? Will Derrick Rose never start another All-Star game?

There are almost four billion people living in Asia. That's four billion reasons Jeremy Lin is a shot in the arm for the NBA. Such a huge new market overseas opens up so many opportunities for the league.

If nothing else, even if Lin does fade away, NBA popularity is as high as it has been all season. This year's Rookie-Sophomore Game will be the most-watched in history, specifically because Lin is playing. All-Star weekend has lost some of it's glamor in recent years, but now that Lin has arrived on the scene, that should change.

Thanks to Jeremy Lin, the 2012 NBA season has become one for the ages.