Linsanity Page #5

Warrior rookie

out of Harvard.

It got pretty loud,

And people were standing up

and clapping,

And I just remember

looking around.

Announcer:

Grew up a warrior fan,

Signed

by his hometown team.

It's a great story.

Color analyst:

It really is.

It was so emotional for me

to finally get there,

For me to finally be there,

And I couldn't envision myself

there even a year ago.

When I saw him guarding

Kobe, I was like, "wow. "

We've been watching this guy

ever since we were little.

He's actually...

He's there.

Announcer:
Missing,

lee with the rebound.

Color analyst:
I love what

Lin did. Didn't foul him.

Ohh!

Ready to return for

the grizzlies. Williams.

Lin's got an open look,

And then threw it

to battier inexplicably.

Announcer 2:

Welcome to the NBA.

Jeremy:
I hate when everyone's

looking at me.

I hate the spotlight.

How am I gonna be myself

When every time

I touch the ball,

Everyone's expecting me

to do

Some crazy, miraculous play?

Announcer:
He scores!

People could see it

on my face.

Like, I was

out there playing,

But I wasn't playing

my brand of basketball.

I was scared, nervous,

And just, like,

a lot of questions

And a lot of stress

And a lot of uncertainty

floating around.

Larry riley:

The ingredient that's missing

Is the fact there was

a player named Monta Ellis

And Steph curry

ahead of him.

[ laughs ]

You know, coaches need to win,

at the NBA level,

And so Keith smart,

who was our coach at the time,

Really didn't

play him a lot,

And this is

how these things happen.

Jeremy:

At first, I was like,

"he knows I can play,

he knows I can play. "

And then

I wasn't playing at all,

And then I was, like,

reading all these articles like,

"oh, he's just here

to sell jerseys

And increase revenue. "

I was like,

"maybe that's all it is.

Maybe that's all I'm good for,"

you know.

Yu:
I think we have

to be honest with ourselves.

There was definitely

a marketing element to it.

I mean,

he's a hometown guy.

The area has a significant

asian-american population.

And the way it played out,

You know, people

went bonkers for that.

[ cheering ]

A lot of what America perceives

as asian is very foreign.

Yao Ming was kind of a

quintessential example of that.

He's from china,

he's from the east,

And he's coming

to our shores.

Whereas,

Jeremy is like homegrown.

He's a homegrown asian-american

kid from the suburbs.

He grew up with hoop dreams

just like the rest of us.

Seeing a kid like Jeremy

on the court

In a warriors uniform,

You know,

that's a huge impact.

You know, he was happy to be

playing for his hometown team,

But we weren't satisfied

with just being in the NBA.

Announcer:
Fans want Jeremy Lin

to go all the way to the rim,

And he has it taken away.

The warriors' management

Sent Jeremy

down to the d-league,

The NBA's version

of a minor league farm system.

He was faced

with a harsh reality.

The d-league is one

of the toughest things

When it comes

to a basketball career.

The d-league,

you know, it's a showcase.

People don't care

how many wins you have.

All they care about

is your stats.

It's all about you,

and you have teammates,

But they're not really

on your team.

You know, they'll take

your job if they can.

You cut off?

You the point guard?

Yeah.

You pass it to me...

Okay.

And then just

wait out there.

What I told him when he went

to the d-league was simple.

Go kill it.

Go and crush the d-league,

and let's get called up.

Because it's a battle,

you know.

It's a battle right here.

Jeremy:
I was like,

"man, like, if I play bad,

This may be it. "

Announcer:
Jeremy Lin drives

against squeaky,

Tries to get to the rack,

throws it away!

Jeremy:
I couldn't really

sleep, 'cause I was so stressed.

I called my brother.

I was like, "I'm

trippin' right now,

Like, I don't know

what's going on. "

I think, for him,

it was just like the journey

Was kind of wearing

on him.

'cause, like,

at every step of the way,

You have to, like,

overcome all these odds,

And, like, I think

at a certain point,

It felt insurmountable

for him.

So he was

not in a good place.

Color analyst:

Lin needs to settle down.

Announcer:
Yeah,

he's running out of gas.

Jeremy desperately

wanted to prove

That he belonged,

but in his rookie year,

He was sent to the d-league

three times.

Chen:
I think getting

sent back and forth

And the constant

yo-yo effect

Of being taken up

by the warriors,

Sent back down,

The cumulative effect of it

weighed heavily on him.

You know, I've always

had that desire,

And I've always

had that within me

Where I want to prove

that I could play in the NBA.

But, you know, I'm here

right now for a reason,

And, you know, god works

in very different ways.

Stay up! Stay up!

Come here!

Eric Musselman:
You know,

I thought with each game,

His confidence grew,

and you could see it

Almost with each possession

up the floor.

And after

his 20-game stint,

I think he came out

of that d-league experience

Really believing that he could

have an impact in the NBA.

It was tough, because

we knew he could play.

It was just frustrating

because so many people

Were so ready to just bury

him and give up on him.

Jeremy:

It's hard for me,

Because I really

love basketball.

Like, I love my dream.

My dream is to play

in the NBA,

And I wanted it so bad

that I couldn't imagine

Finally getting it,

and then losing it right away.

Does anyone in here think LeBron

is not as good as Kobe right now?

Man:
I think LeBron is

definitely not better,

Just bigger.

Well, it's kind

of hard to say.

You'd know better

than us, so...

No, I don't know.

I just had

closer seats.

[ laughter ]

Older kids?

Hey, you guys

are in here. In here.

Coach:
Nice, perfect.

And then left, left,

or a right, right. Perfect.

Jeremy:

Yeah, I like that.

This is a good group

right here!

Hey! Don't move, don't move,

don't move, don't move!

Stay out there.

All these asian kids

are, like, intimidated by me.

I like talk to them,

they're like, "uh... "

I'm like, "dude,

I'm not, like, Frankenstein. "

If they're really tall,

you're gonna get stuck,

And then you'll get called

for a travel.

Man:
Right here.

Ricky has

something to say.

Boy:
Thank you.

No problem.

Thanks for coming.

I remember in the d-league,

I kept a little diary.

I know that's a little girlie

to some of you guys,

But I like to write down

some of my thoughts

Every once in a while

So I can look back

and remember.

And I remember

on December 29th,

I wrote about

how I actually wish

I had never signed

with the warriors.

I wish I could quit basketball,

because I wasn't having fun.

And what got me

through those times...

Obviously,

I don't feel that way now.

But what got me

through that time

Was the number one reason

Why all the leaders

are here today.

And that's because we want

to let you guys know

That god loves me and that he

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