Jeremy Lin and ‘Linsanity’: 10 years later

It was 10 years ago this month that an unsuspecting, 23-year-old Jeremy Lin of the New York Knicks took the NBA by storm — and the rest was history.

Lin was born in Southern California and raised in the San Francisco Bay Area. After playing basketball at Harvard University and garnering little attention from professional basketball scouts, he joined the Golden State Warriors as an undrafted free agent in 2010. However, the young point guard received little playing time behind starters Stephen Curry and Monte Ellis. He then joined the Knicks the next season and was expected to be a bench player again. But fate had something else in store for him.

The 2011–12 season started badly for the Knicks, who struggled due to key injuries. By February, they had an ugly 9–15 record and head coach Mike D’Antoni’s job was in jeopardy.

But, in a Feb. 4 game against the New Jersey (now Brooklyn) Nets, Lin would have a day to remember. With injuries to veteran guards Iman Shumpert and Baron Davis, team leader Carmelo Anthony encouraged D’Antoni to give Lin extra minutes — and Lin seized every moment of the opportunity. Lin caught fire, nailing 10 for 19 field goals for 25 points and seven assists to lead the Knicks to a 99–92 victory.

From there, Lin would stay hot and lead the Knicks to seven consecutive wins. In the midst of the streak, Lin guided the team to a key victory against future hall of famer Kobe Bryant and the Los Angeles Lakers. While Bryant led the Lakers with 34…