Jeremy Lin

Jeremy Lin was an American basketball player who was best remembered for leading the New York Knicks to a stunning streak of wins in early February 2012, thus giving birth to the widely used media phrase "Linsanity." Born in Torrance, California to Taiwanese immigrants, Lin had a typical American childhood. He was raised in the Bay Area town of Palo Alto, California, and despite having parents that were both 5'6", Lin managed to sprout up to 6'3" inches by high school. A gifted student, Lin was also a phenomenal athlete in high school. He was a star on his high school basketball team, leading them to a Division II state title, but was not offered any athletic scholarships. Undeterred, Lin entered Harvard College when he was 18 and was good enough to land a starting spot on the school's basketball team. While playing for Harvard, Lin's record was impressive. He made the All Conference Team for the Ivy League three times during his four years at Harvard, before graduating with a degree in Economics. Lin went undrafted in the 2010 NBA Draft, but did eventually sign a deal to play in the NBA's Development League as a member of his hometown team the Golden State Warriors. Lin rarely saw on-court action with the Warriors during his rookie season. The following year Lin signed with the New York Knicks, who had fallen on hard times as a team. He was promoted to the starting lineup in February of 2012 and singlehandedly led the Knicks to an amazing streak of wins that ignited the craze known as "Linsanity." "Linsanity," however, would be short-lived. During the summer of 2012 Lin signed a three year contract with the Houston Rockets, where he would play for the next two seasons. He would play for two other teams, including the Los Angles Lakers and Charlotte Hornets, before returning to New York City, the place where "Linsanity" began, in 2016 as a member of the Brooklyn Nets.