By: Kody Gilliland

Im sure by now that most everyone who pays attention to sports knows who Jeremy Lin is.

If not, here’s a quick refresher:

Lin played in the Ivy League at Harvard, was undrafted, played with the Warriors, was sent down to the D-League, waived by the Warriors before the start of this season, picked up by the Houston Rockets where he played in two preseason games and then was waived before the start of the season. Then he was picked up by the Knicks but didn’t play significant minutes until February 4th against the New Jersey Nets. Before those minutes, he had another stint in the D-league and was a day or two away from getting cut.

This is where Linsanity begins…

It’s true that Lin has been on fire in his first six games and it’s more incredible that he’s taken over media coverage around sports, but the question is why?  Is it his abilities on the court that’s drawing the attention,  or the fact that he’s playing in Matteson Square Garden, or is it because of his hard to believe story of where he came from?

I think it’s a combination of all three.

Firstly, most people in America and in the sports culture love stories of guys who come from relative obscurity to conquer all odds to become stars, which I think plays a roll into the media fire storm.

Secondly, He’s playing out of his mind right now!  Not only did he score 38 points against the Lakers, but he also hit a last second shot against the Raptors in Toronto where he clearly wanted the ball for the last shot, even going so far as to motion towards the bench for Mike D’Antoni to not call a time out so that he could nail the three point shot leaving half a second left on the clock.  It’s unbelievable how well he’s playing, which is why he’s such a huge story.

He’s playing in the biggest, most diverse, market in the world.  Parlay that with the fact the Knicks fans have been craving some good basketball for a while and voila you get the biggest story of the NBA season so far.

There are ancillary reasons as to why he’s blown up the way he has.  The most notable is that his name can easily be adapted to many kinds of puns. Such as:

He’s bringing a lot of LinEnergy to the Knicks.

That was LinTastic!

Whats going to be the LinGistics of how the Knicks play when Carmelo gets back?

And so on and so on…

If you haven’t already now would be a great time to hop on the Lintrain and enjoy the Linsanity, because it’s going to be one hell of a ride.

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