3. Linsanity hits its tipping point
Jeremy Lin’s emergence from being cut multiple times to a New York City folk hero was one of the greatest stretches in sports. Once the ball got rolling, every night was a new opportunity for Lin to wow the NBA world once again.
Every great stretch has a peak, and for Linsanity, it came on a Friday night in February against the all-powerful Los Angeles Lakers.
With the energy inside Madison Square Garden at a ridiculously high level, one would think it was the NBA Finals. No, just game No. 27 of the shortened season that Lin turned into his own personal highlight reel.
He clearly felt little jitters heading into this clash with Los Angeles, as he’d go on to drop a career-high 38 points to go along with seven assists, leading New York to a surprising seven-point victory.
To that point, Lin had played three incredible games, although none came against the stiffest of competitors. Many saw this game against the Lakers as a true measuring stick for the former Harvard point guard to see just how legit he really was.
There were pull-up jumpers, drives to the bucket and even a ridiculous spin move, all from a guy who nobody had really heard of just a couple of weeks prior.
Lin essentially went toe-to-toe with Kobe Bryant — who claimed to have not known about this cultural phenomenon before their matchup — and came out on top, with a lot of his buckets coming at the expense of the “Black Mamba” himself.
The tale of “Linsanity” is one that will hopefully be passed down for generations, with this game against the Lakers serving as the best of them all in what was truly an awesome time in the Big Apple.