MANILA, Philippines - In February, 2012, the New York Knicks, mired in a disappointing season and out of desperation, looked to the end of their bench and found Jeremy Lin (photo), an undrafted free agent from Harvard. On the verge of seeing his life-long NBA dream vanish, Lin — at, or near what was believed to be his last chance as an NBA professional, underwent a now-legendary run, obliterating stereotypes along the way, and in the process birthed a global phenomenon known as “Linsanity†Basketball — and the world was never the same.
Solar Entertainment Corporation presents Linsanity, a film that chronicles the amazing journey of the American-Asian NBA superstar Jeremy Lin.
Lin came from a humble background to make an unbelievable run in the NBA. State high school champion, all-Ivy League at Harvard, undrafted by the NBA and unwanted there: His story started long before he landed on Broadway.
A native of Palo Alto, California, Lin is the NBA’s first American-born player of Chinese or Taiwanese descent. Overlooked after his prep career ended, he is believed to be the only California Division II Player of the Year to not receive a Division I scholarship. However, Harvard University did take notice of Lin, and he helped pave the way for his Harvard team to become nationally-ranked for the first time in its history along with making their first NCAA Tournament appearance since 1946.
Undrafted in the 2010 NBA draft, he was signed by his home town Golden State Warriors for the 2010-11 season. After being cut by the Warriors, he was signed by the Houston Rockets, and ultimately cut on Christmas Day in 2011. He was then picked up by the Knicks, and after being inserted as a starter for the injury-laden team in February, 2012.
In the course of just a few weeks, Lin went from benchwarmer to international icon, by scoring a historic 136 points in his first five career starts. His magical run included scoring 38 points against Kobe Bryant and the Lakers, 28 points on the defending champion Dallas Mavericks, and 27 points and a last-second game winning three-pointer against the Toronto Raptors. Heading into the 2012 off-season, Lin was a restricted free agent and was ultimately signed by the Houston Rockets.
Linsanity is now showing in theaters.