In 2012, the sports world witnessed the greatest thing to happen to New York City sports since Derek Jeter, with the birth of “Linsanity.” In this interview on CBS’ “60 Minutes,” Jeremy Lin discusses his journey of being an undrafted college graduate from Harvard University, being one of the few Asians to ever play professionally in the NBA. Last season during his tenure with the NY Knicks, the team suffered many injuries —plaguing them the entire season, which former team Coach Mike D’Antoni resorted to his bench for a needed boost and would come across Jeremy Lin.
When D’Antoni subbed in Lin during a Knicks game against therival Nets, he out-dueled all-star guard Deron Williams, scoring 25 points, 5 boards and 7 dimes —all becoming career highlights. “Linsanity” would be born after a few games of consistent play, giving the Knicks a win streak. Then, in a national game against the Los Angeles Lakers, a “star” would be born as he scored 38 points, completely outscoring Kobe Bryant. He quickly became a target of the league, seeing obvious jealousy from some players, along with opponents exposing his talents and the NBA riding their marketing propaganda.
Check after the jump for bonus web extras from the interview, including Lin speaking on the transition from college to the pros, challenges he’s faced, and Rockets GM Daryl Morey speaking on Lin’s tenure with the Houston Rockets so far.
OS REWIND: The REAL Jeremy Lin Pre-Game Playlist
OS REWIND: OS Top 10: The Best Of ‘Linsanity’
Upon the conclusion of the Knicks season, Lin would hit the free agent market in search of top dollar pay and finally, the Houston Rockets signed him to a $28.8M deal for four years. His numbers would obviously decrease in a new system, city, teammates and coach not being the focal point of the offense anymore, but Lin has recently caught fire in the Rockets last five games, averaging nearly 25 points and 10 assist a game with the postseason nearing and imminent postseason clinching due this week.