Long before Crazy Rich Asians and Shang-Chi, there was “Linsanity”, a phenomenon that shocked the sports world and inspired Asian-Americans all over the globe.

Jeremy Shu-How Lin grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area and earned honors of Northern California Basketball player of the year as a senior in high school. Despite this, he received no offers. He would then attend Harvard University and earn three-time all-conference in the Ivy League. Lin would go undrafted and sign with his hometown Golden State Warriors in 2010. Lin would then find a short stint with the Houston Rockets before signing with the New York Knicks for the 2011-2012 season. 

Lin would find limited minutes, totaling just 55 minutes four months into the season. That trend ended on February 4th when Lin logged 36 minutes in a 99-92 win over the New Jersey Nets. At the time, the Knicks have lost 11 of their last 13 games and head coach Mike D’Antoni was looking for any type of spark. Lin would be that spark as he dropped 25 points, dished out seven assists, and grabbed five rebounds in that game. This would be the first real appearance of Jeremy Lin, but insanity wouldn’t ensue until his famous 36-point game over Kobe Bryant’s Lakers on February 10th. 

Jeremy Lin would average 27.3 points, 8.3 assists, and 2.0 steals across his first four starts. His performance would garner him Eastern Conference Player of the Week.

Lin’s stardom had already grown way out of proportion, but his game-winning three over the Toronto Raptors would make him the #1 talked-about person on the face of the earth. 

Since then, Lin has jumped around the league, even becoming the first Asian-American to win an NBA Champion during his stint with the Raptors in 2019. Lin is currently playing in the CBA, becoming an all-star for the Beijing Ducks. 

 Growing up as an Asian-American, there weren’t many people that looked like me in sports and in entertainment. As a 10-year-old kid, seeing Jeremy Lin steal the spotlight and make headlines had me in awe. Journalist Jeff Yang said it best, “Linsanity was the first time that Asians found something that we could collectively celebrate and rally around across language boundaries, across ethnicities.” What made Jeremy Lin different was that he was relatable. There have been other Asian players in NBA, like Yao Ming, but Yao Ming was a 7’6” giant that barely had to jump to dunk the ball. Lin is a 6’3”, 200 pounds point guard born and raised in the Bay Area. What made his story even better was that he was the classic underdog. Zero offers out of high school, undrafted, and cut from multiple teams, none of this stopped Lin from following his dreams. It was inspiring for all generations alike, every single Asian-American saw something in Jeremy Lin that they could relate to. 

With more Asian representation in pop-culture, thanks to Crazy Rich Asians and Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, I can’t wait to see what more we can accomplish in the future.