Like many of my friends in the Asian circle, we woke up this morning to find that a new basketball star was born. How fast did the star get discovered? Three games over the past 5 days. That's all it took for a nobody to become a somebody in this world of social media.
This is the story of Jeremy Lin, the first American-born NBA player of Chinese descent, and in just three games, he’s debunked one stereotype after another. Except for his family and friends, no one rooted for him and as a backup point guard it seemed that Lin was destined to the bench of the NY Knicks. He was the last resort. Finally, Lin got his chance to play and became an instant favorite among fans yesterday. No one knew or expected (not even his teammates), that he could dunk or play that well. Jeremy Lin is the latest example of a Schema Buster.
Poster Child effect:
Historically, Asian parents would never push their kids to go pro in any kind of sports. They don't see it as a viable or legitimate career. They urge their kids to become doctors, engineers, or financial analysts, never sports. But Jeremy Lin's story proved them wrong and if there is one takeaway from Jeremy Lin's life, it is that there's a lot of reward to be had if you find what you are really good at--be it finance or sports.
I must say that Lin's path to the NBA has all the elements of a Hollywood underdog-wins-against-all-odds happy ending! But making a movie takes a while. In the meantime, since the 5 days that he came to the radar of mainstream media, people are already selling J Lin 'Linning' t-shirts, artwork and other sports memorabilia!
Jeremy, my friend, I hope you're ready for this roller-coaster ride of media blitz, product sponsorships, book writing, and of course... invasions of privacy. Don't let them get to you!
PS: Here's how good he played:
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