Jeremy Lin knows better than anyone how it feels to excite New York.
Before Jalen Brunson carried the Knicks within two games of winning the franchise’s first championship since 1973, Lin imbued a flailing organization with the most joy it had experienced since its playoff runs in the 1990s.
Lin went from being an undrafted, Harvard walk-on to becoming a global superstar after carrying the Knicks on a seven-game winning streak while averaging 22 points during the 2011-12 season. He brought Spike Lee back to Madison Square Garden. He inspired ticket prices to soar. He famously scored 38 points on Kobe Bryant after the Lakers superstar asked, “Who is this kid?”
Lin returned to ground zero of the career-defining yet short-lived “Linsanity” phenomenon Monday for Game 3 of the NBA Finals between the Knicks and Spurs.
Lin will forever be celebrated by New Yorkers, who cheered wildly when his face was shown on the jumbotron.
He arrived at MSG clad in Knicks gear, representing a franchise that will forever hold a piece of his heart even though he left after his lone season with the organization after it declined to match a three-year, $25 million offer from the Rockets in the summer of 2012.
Lin brought beleaguered New Yorkers happiness and he’s thrilled they’re experiencing it once again. Many are even calling this the greatest Knicks team of all time.
As for whether Lin agrees?
“I don’t think I know enough about the history of the older teams to fully know,” Lin told The California Post. “But forget the Knicks, this is one of the most dominant runs we’ve seen in NBA history.”
Before falling to the Spurs 115-111 on Monday, the Knicks had won 13 postseason games in a row, the second-longest winning streak in NBA playoff history.
The biggest reason for that? Brunson.
Jason Szenes for the New York Post
Lin praised Brunson for igniting the Knicks’ fanbase, saying the man known as “The King of New York” is finally showing the world what New Yorkers have known all along.
“He is starting to get [the attention] now and definitely deserves it,” Lin told The California Post. “I don’t think enough people are talking about him giving up $113 million to build a team full of players that want to win. I think that speaks volumes. That’s also historic. It’s not talked about enough. Now he’s starting to get some of the recognition he deserves as a player, but he’s the consummate teammate and professional.”
Lin went on to praise Karl-Anthony Towns, who this postseason has shed the “soft” narrative that plagued him throughout his career.
Towns has been dominant on both ends of the court against the Spurs, often getting the better of Victor Wembanyama, who’s considered the next face of the league.
“It’s huge because, one, he’s rising to the occasion,” Lin said. “Two, he’s doing it on the defensive end as well. Three, he has turned up his playmaking abilities. We’re seeing three different areas of KAT that had certain narratives already written about him, so credit to him. And from all of his interviews, he seems so centered, so grateful. It has been great to see.”
The Knicks, who have a 2-1 series lead over the Spurs and will host Game 4 on Wednesday, are so close to ending 53 years of suffering for their fanbase.
But New Yorkers shouldn’t celebrate yet.
If the Knicks allow the Spurs to become the first team in NBA history to win a Finals series after losing their first two games at home, this iteration of the blue and orange would go from being the city’s savior to its greatest flop.
Things are still precarious for the Knicks.
As Lin knows all too well, in this city things can change in the blink of an eye.
“Obviously, it’s not over until they finish the job,” Lin told The California Post. “If they don’t finish the job then that will forever be a knock. Until this point, [their run] is about as dominant as it gets.”
[Notigroup Newsroom in collaboration with other media outlets, with information from the following sources]
