Jeremy Lin: Through Thick or Lin, Knicks Must Ride out Linsanity

In regards to the sports world, the month of February thus far can be summed up with one word - Linsanity - and I don't see it changing anytime soon.

Since bursting onto the scene for good on February 4th, Jeremy Lin has sparked a fire under his team, the fans and the media. His story is even pushing the envelope towards being leading news everywhere, regardless of an obvious sports connection.

We all know the anecdote by now - no scholarship offers from D-1 programs after a stellar high school career...paid his own way to be a standout player at Harvard...undrafted into the NBA...gets a shot from hometown Golden State as a marketing ploy...floats around until finding a spot with the Knicks...first American born Asian player in the NBA...record scoring and turnover outputs to start career...thus Linsanity is born.

This list could go on, but the underlying point is that no matter how the next game plays out or how Carmelo Anthony meshes with Lin, the Knicks are married to Linsanity for better or for worse. All of the press, good or bad, as dictated by the media, surrounding Lin means the Knicks and the league will ensure that he is a fixture for the foreseeable future.

The first hint of this process is Lin's last minute addition to this weekend's All-Star festivities after being left out completely before his amazing run.

Fans boo when he leaves the court, engage in "Rudy-style" chants when he is on the bench, and go wild when he reenters the game.

Obviously right now, Lin's play demands that he sticks in the starting lineup. But what happens if the turnovers start costing the Knicks games (marring a very fortunate 8-2 since February 4th)? What happens if Melo doesn't fall back into place, resulting in tension? What happens if the shine wears off a bit or teammates start getting jealous?

With all the lobbying that took place to get Anthony in a Knicks’ uniform, we see that any potential disaster can be solved with the proverbial “W”, no matter the source. With Melo and Amare Stoudemire out of the lineup for an extended period time, the entire Knicks’ organization – from the owner all the way down to its fans – ran off and eloped with Jeremy Lin.

The experiment has worked out well for all parties so far, most importantly the Knicks, but if things start to unravel again, they will need a scapegoat. This is New York we are dealing with here. But all successful relationships are built with a solid foundation and that requires all parties to accept the role that will best allow every facet to shine as brightly as possible.

In the Knicks' case, that means that each player will have to become accustomed to a statistical output they have not been used to, either over their careers in the case of Anthony and Stoudemire, or more recently, with Lin.

It might take a while to get used to the new way of running things, as is the case with any shotgun wedding. But compare this team to Head Coach Mike D’antoni’s Phoenix teams of the past. Although they never won a championship, they stayed competitive in the gauntlet that is the Western Conference.

The Knicks have similar pieces but with one glaring difference. They have Carmelo Anthony, who can simply take games over at times with his scoring. The primary reason it hasn’t worked out during his tenure in New York thus far is that there is too much pressure for him to be “the man”. Sure he was in the same situation in Denver, but the Big Apple is the pressure cooker capitol of the world.

With all that the Knicks have riding on Anthony and Stoudemire, Lin is the most important piece to this team in respect to the win column and their relationship with their fans. Their hands are tied in regards to the entire situation so it is imperative they find a way to make it work, and quickly.

Lin has undoubtedly saved the Knicks’ season and quite possibly the entire league, with the damage that was done by the lockout and David Stern’s inexplicable handling of the Chris Paul trade saga. For the Knicks’ sake though, let’s hope they don’t find a way to turn such a good thing into a bad apple.

Contact Jeremy at [e-mail], follow him on Twitter @KCPopFlyBoy, and read more of his takes on sports and pop culture at popflyboys.com