Sports Nut: Lin-Glorious Bastard

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Sports Nut Lin-Glorious Bastard The trilling, frustrating rise of Jeremy Lin. By Chuck Leung Posted Tuesday, Feb 14, 2012, at 03:47 PM ET Sitting on my parents' couch outside San Francisco in 2006, flipping channels, I happened across a replay of that year's high-school state championship game. I was quickly riveted by a skinny Taiwanese kid from Palo Alto, who repeatedly herked and jerked his way into the paint for points, leading his undersized team to a dramatic victory over heavily favored Mater Dei. Even then, Jeremy Lin's game couldn't exactly be described as pretty. But he refused to shy away from either pressure or contact in the biggest game—against the biggest dudes—he had probably played in his life. I've never been accused of having too much "Asian pride," but I had no compunction about grabbing a fistful of Jeremy Lin stock early. I was getting in on the ground floor. It wasn't difficult for me to root for him. Like Lin, I am Asian-American, born and raised in the Bay Area to immigrant parents from China. Like Lin, I was once a 5-foot-3 high-school freshman whose late growth spurt saved my basketball career (such as it was). I played the same position as Lin, and, like him, captained my varsity squad. After receiving no Division I scholarships, Lin "settled" for Harvard, where he studied economics and, as a senior, led his overachieving team in points, rebounds, assists, steals, and racial slurs endured. Despite a highly decorated Ivy League career, no NBA team selected him in the draft. As a senior at Berkeley, I also studied ... To continue reading, click here. Join the Fray: our reader discussion forum What did you think of this article? POST A MESSAGE | READ MESSAGES Also In Slate Romney Thinks Saying, "I'm a Conservative" Makes Him a Conservative Pentagon Calls for More Big-War Weapons. What Happened to a Leaner, Meaner Military? How Digital Roses Could Solve Internet Dating's Biggest Problem	Advertisement
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