The hits just keep coming for Palo Alto-native and current darling of the NBA Jeremy Lin.
Sports Illustrated put Lin on its cover Wednesday, one day after the New York Knicks’ point guard scored a last-second basket during a tie game in Toronto. The New York Knicks won 90-87.
Lin's career in the NBA was in doubt just a few weeks ago. Then, he became a starter for the New York Knickerbockers.
Before that he was cut by the Golden State Warriors and then by the Houston Rockets. Injuries to some of the Knicks’ biggest, and the NBA’s highest paid players, put Lin into the starting rotation.
Fast-forward two weeks and you have the newest national sensation, which has become known as “Lin-sanity.”
The Palo Alto High School graduate is quick to deflect the praise to his Christian faith and teammates.
"It's not because of me, it's because we're coming together as a team," Lin told The Associated Press. "We started making these steps earlier but we were still losing close games and so obviously it wasn't fun. But when you win, that solves a lot of problems. We've been winning and we've been playing together.''
Warriors General Manager Larry Riley talked to reporters Wednesday about letting Lin go from Golden State. Riley said he never saw him as a star.
"I saw him as a guy who, if everything went well, would be a back up point guard in this league," Riley said.
Riley credited Lin for studying the league and becoming a better player but he defended cutting the sensation by saying the Warriors needed a center and not a guard.
Golden State cut Lin to free up cap space to sign restricted free agent DeAndre Jordan to an offer sheet. The Los Angeles Clippers matched the offer for Jordan and the Warriors wound up signing former No. 1 pick Kwame Brown, who is currently out with an injury.
Riley admittted he not happy the team let Lin go, but he added that he is happy for Jeremy and his family.
See raw video below:
