This Week in Jewish Sports – BAGELS & JOCKS Monday, February 13, 2012

Created by Matthew J. Goldberg, tipofthegoldberg.com

No, he’s not Jewish, but Jeremy Lin is young, bright, talented and taking New York City and the basketball world by storm. As always, Bagels & Jocks monitors the Jewish sports world but can’t ignore the instant legend that is Harvard’s own Jeremy Lin. We also ask: what if he were Jewish?

DUMPLINGS AND JOCKS?

If you are like most people, even most sports fans, you may not have even heard of Jeremy Shu-How Lin 10 days ago. If you are like most sports fans this morning, you are probably trying to wrap your mind around all of this Linsanity. By the way, that is not my term, and per the linked story from Deadspin.com, there is some debate over who coined it.

Before we get to the cultural phenomenon of it all, what Jeremy Lin has done to catapult his name into such prominence and his team into relevance once again is almost miraculous. Yes, that statement seems like typical modern age hyperbole, but when you consider his tale, it actually borders on understatement.

On February 2, the New York Knicks lost 105-102 to the Chicago Bulls to fall to 8-14. Although only about one-third of this strike-shortened season had been played, things were looking mighty bleak. On paper, the Knicks got the scoring they expected and more that night from their two stars, Carmelo Anthony (26 points) and Ama’re Stoudemire (34).

The next night, they lost at Boston, 105-102 despite 60 points from Carmelo and Amar’e. Lin, who had only played in nine of the team’s first 23 games—and only in garbage time at that—scored an insignificant two points in six-plus minutes.

The “Lin” streak started the very next night, back at Madison Square Garden for the finale of three back-to-back-to-back games. Although he did not start, Lin came off the bench to score 25 points, hand out seven assists, grab five rebounds and make two steals in the 99-92 win over the New Jersey Nets.

New York barely knew what had happened, although Jeremy Lin was inserted into the starting lineup for the very first time last Monday for the Knicks’ clash versus the Utah Jazz. Once again, he provided the sweet, improvisational music: 28 points, two boards, eight assists and two steals in the 98-89 victory. The win was even more surprising when one considers that Anthony only played six minutes (he’s been out ever since with a strained groin muscle) and Stoudemire missed the game to be with his family in Florida. Amar’e’s older brother, Hazell (just 35) was killed in a car accident.

The second start saw Lin go for 23, four and 10—along with a steal and a block—in a 107-93 win at Washington.

Times are what they are, and Lin’s story would have been big anywhere. When you consider the fact that he plays in the media capital of the nation and that he is the first American-born NBA player of Chinese/Taiwanese descent, the story started to get enormous. Now, add this to the mix: The kid (just 23) is a Harvard grad and sleeps on one of his brother’s couches;  the story was getting silly. Do you need more? Despite being all-state in high school, he had no college scholarship offers, Despite three years as an All-Ivy League player, he was not drafted by an NBA team…

Stop it, already!

Lin’s third start was at home versus the Lakers and superstar Kobe Bryant, who is acknowledged as one of the greatest and most viciously competitive players in the history of the game. It was time for a cold dose of reality…for Kobe, that is. Kobe went off for his usual big game at the Garden (34 points and 10 rebounds) only to be outdone by the skinny kid who sleeps on his brother’s couch. J-Lin exploded for 38 points, four rebounds and seven dimes in the 92-85 win.

Start number four and game number five of the Lin Dynasty saw the slightly-built 6’3” guard suffer from a poor second half, but rally to hit the game-winning free throw with 4.9 seconds left to lead the Knocks to a 100-98 win at Minnesota. He still managed 20 points, six boards, eight assists and three steals.

To recap, the Knicks won all five games in which Lin played significant minutes, despite playing four of them without their two high-paid stars. Lin’s 109 total points are the most for any player making his first four starts since the NBA merged with the ABA in 1976. Think of that. Name any high-scoring superstar you want who entered the NBA in the last 36 years: Shaquile O’Neal, Kobe, LeBron James, Alan Iverson, the incomparable Michael Jordan. Nope—none of them scored 109 points in their first four NBA starts. And not one of them led a 9-15 team without its two best players to four straight wins.

Do you need a moment to digest all this?  I think I do, actually.

Jeremy Lin was born in Los Angeles to two Taiwanese immigrants. He spent most of his youth upstate in Palo Alto where he led his high school to the state championship his senior year. Although he was also voted first-team all-state (in California, mind you) he was not offered a single college scholarship. He starred at Harvard, graduated with a degree in economics and a fine GPA, and incidentally was one of the best players in the Ivies while helping to turn around the Cromson’s program.

By all accounts, Lin plays with joy, passion, intelligence and poise, and is humble off the court. He is a devout Christian.

Now, let’s imagine the same story if he were Jewish:

Jeremy is a nice Jewish name, but let’s change his middle name from Shu-How to…read on, please.

THE JEWISH JEREMY

 Jeremy Shimon Linderman was born to two Eastern European Jewish immigrants who impressed upon him the value of a strong education. Jeremy also showed a gift for basketball and led the Solomon Schechter Academy to New York’s Division II state championship. Although he was voted first-team all-state, he was only offered the opportunity to walk-on at Syracuse. He decided to go to, um, Harvard, where he…

Linderman (true story for Lin) was undrafted but played his rookie season last year for Golden State, where he played in only 29 games and averaged less than three points a game. In between games with Golden State, he played in the NBA’s D-League—the equivalent of AA or AAA in baseball.

Picked up by the Knicks this year to compete for a backup roster spot, Lin played sparingly in between trips to the D-League’s Erie Blackhawks. When given his chance, Lin made history, scoring more points in his first four starts than any NBA player in over 35 years. He has brought an incredible sense of excitement to the league, and a special pride among Jewish basketball fans. While there have been other Jewish all-pro players, there has never been a Jewish star of this magnitude in New York. Oh yes, he’s also a devout Jew, and shows great humility off the court.

Was this a bit of a fantasy sequence? Perhaps. In fact, this whole column reads like one, and one hopes that this terrific, bright kid who happens to play with the poise of a veteran continues to find success in his NBA journey. As we await the next great Jewish pro basketball player, this is a story for all sports fans to embrace—whether or not they root for the Knicks.

OTHER JEWISH NBA NEWS

Lawrence Frank’s Detroit Pistons were starting to get it together, enjoying their first four-game win streak of the year. So much for the good news. The bad? Their streak was broken in a 98-77 home loss to the Washington Wizards. The Pistons (8-21) have actually won two more games than the Wizards (6-21).

The Nets are not faring any better than the Pistons, and they have lost their last six games, including four in a row last week. Amidst all this mediocrity, backup guard Jordan Farmar is quietly having a fine year.  The UCLA alum scored a combined 59 points in the four games and handed out 18 assists. He has upped his season averages to 11.2 points and 3.6 assists per game, and his shooting percentages (48% from the floor, 46% from beyond the arc and 93% from the charity stripe) are terrific.

Omri Casspi’s Cleveland Cavaliers endured a 1-3 week without sensational rookie point guard Kyrie Irving. The Israeli native scored 26 points in the four games, a little below his season average of 7.8 points per game.

JUST ONE MORE THING

Boston Red Sox slugger and fan favorite Kevin Youkilis, known to many as the “Greek God of Walks” is, according to multiple reports, going to be taking another type of walk soon—down the aisle to marry…can it be…Julie Brady, sister of all-world New England Patriots’ quarterback Tom Brady.

No other details to pass along—I.e., date, locale, rabbi or caterer. I just hope that no Patriots receiver in attendance drops the garter…especially if Gisele is watching.

On that fun note, it is time to sign off from today’s edition of Bagels and Jocks. See you next Monday right here. Please feel free to share some dialogue below.  If you would like to bring another Jewish athlete or mover-and-shaker to my attention, please contact me via this site or by e-mail.

Matthew J. (call him Matt) Goldberg will be taking a look at “This Week in Jewish Sports”) every Monday on www.jewocity.com. Please send feedback or suggestions to Matt@tipofthegoldberg.com.

For information about Matt’s books, sports columns, speaking events and requests for appearances and custom writing, please visit www.tipofthegoldberg.com, or contact him via email.