In playing his former team on Sunday, Los Angeles Lakers point guard Jeremy Lin had another chance to reflect on the remarkable two-month run he embarked on with the New York Knicks three years ago, when, for a brief spell, he took over the NBA.
Lin dropped 25 points off the bench on Feb. 4 2012 in a Knicks win, nearly doubling his previous career high of 13. That led immediately to Lin's first NBA start, and kicked off an out-of-nowhere seven-game winning streak, played largely without hobbled superstar Carmelo Anthony. Lin had at least 20 points and seven assists every night and became an international phenomenon, as "Linsanity" invaded the pop culture lexicon.
He averaged 18.2 points and 7.7 assists the rest of the way, and didn't relinquish his starting spot until a torn meniscus prematurely ended his season at the end of March.
"It was just so fun," Lin reminisced Sunday after scoring four points on 1-of-3 shooting as his depressing Lakers lost to the equally depressing Knicks at his one-time sanctum of Madison Square Garden. "You talk about pure basketball, moving the ball and playing the right way, We didn’t have the most talent or anything, but guys were just trusting each other."
The Knicks opted not to bring Lin back after the 2011-12 season, and he signed as a free agent with the Houston Rockets instead.
Now in his first season with the Lakers, he's coming off the bench, backing up second-round rookie Jordan Clarkson, and averaging a pedestrian 10.4 points and 4.7 assists per game for one of the league's worst teams.
Lin remains a capable point guard, but at this point, he's just another basketball player.
"A lot of people expect him to play at that level again," Lakers head coach Byron Scott said of Lin's magical run with the Knicks. "That might not be realistic. I think he’s a very good basketball player. But the numbers he was putting together at that time were All-Star type numbers."