The numbers don’t lie. It’s one of the most used clichés in sports because it is true. In the case of Jeremy Lin, the latest headline-stealing flavor of the month, it rings true.
Over the first seven games of his meteoric rise, Lin put up offensive numbers even an elite veteran would be proud of. Lin averaged 24.4 points and 9.1 assists while shooting an impressive 51% from the floor. The most impressive number Lin put up was seven. The Knicks won all seven of Lin’s starts.
Jeremy Lin is here, and no matter where his career goes from here, he’s not going away. Neither is the exhaustive list of obnoxious puns that’s been a result of—I’m cringing as I type this—Linsanity. Professional journalists of the world have abandoned the ideals of good reporting and integrity in a race to see who can throw “Lin” into the most existing words and get the best reaction on Twitter. Even in professional interviews and press conferences, Lin can’t escape the flood of bad jokes bearing his last name.
“Super Lintendo is my favorite, I used to play Super Nintendo a lot as a kid,” admitted Lin in recent interview.
Lin’s story has been a remarkable one, but the ridiculous puns have belittled it. Lin was so irrelevant a month ago he alternated sleeping on the couches of his brother and Knicks’ teammate Landry Fields because his contract wasn’t guaranteed. His future in New York was uncertain, as was his future as a professional basketball player in general. He was in the perfect position to become an NBA footnote, a one-paragraph Wikipedia entry, an unfollowed Twitter account. A nobody.
Lin’s story is not newsworthy because he’s an Asian-American novelty, or because his last name can easily become a cheap joke. It’s newsworthy because of Lin’s hard work and determination on his unorthodox road to the NBA.
Lin has received a proper amount of credit for staying hungry and focused while couch hopping and not knowing if he’d wake up in the morning to find out he’d be cut. The bulk of Lin coverage, though, has come in annoying snippets—Lin-this and Lin-that. These cheesy headlines don’t do Lin justice.
However you look at it, Lin is either lucky to the center of attention in the world of minimal-substance-Twitter-style news or unlucky. Lin is too smart and too classy an athlete to blast the media for going overboard on the puns and focusing too heavily on his race, but I bet he’d like to. Jeremy Lin is not a pun. He is not a headline. He is not a stereotypical Asian-American. He is a hardworking human being who’s making the most of an incredible opportunity.
That’s why Lin has captured the heart and attention of the sporting world. People can see their own qualities exemplified in Lin. He received the same number of scholarship offers that you and I did—zero. Despite being one of the best high school prospects in California, the state’s major programs saw Lin as a walk-on at best. So what did Lin do? He went to Harvard, worked on his game, earned a degree in economics, and rewrote the Ivy League record book in the process. He went and toiled in the NBA’s developmental league for a year, and eventually earned a spot as a reserve on the Warriors’ bench, then the Knicks. With no national media spotlight on him, Lin was busy putting in work in practice to get himself where he is today.
Jeremy Lin deserves better than to be diminished by obnoxious puns and racially-driven coverage. Yes, Lin in the first Asian-American to play in the NBA, and that is understandably a point of pride for many Asian-Americans. Lin’s Asian heritage adds another dimension to his appeal, but it is not the sole reason for his booming popularity. He became an overnight hero because of his hard work and humility, and frankly, he deserves far better than to be a headline pun.
The fact of the matter is, nobody knew who Lin was a month ago, and now the world can’t stop talking about him. If there will always be one story or athlete that dominates media coverage, and if Lin is currently that athlete, please, for the sake of everyone’s sanity, scale back on the sensational coverage and awful headlines.