The Insane Rise and Fall of Linsanity

The Insane Rise and Fall of Linsanity

Can you give me a little uh window of what it was like to be around for the Lindsanity season? So, what happened was a few players were hurt. Melon was hurt. I was gone. There’s a few other players that were hurt. Jeremy Lynn was like the 15 man on the roster. So, he got a call to say we need you to play. They just start. You got to step up for us. He stepped up and had 30 points game one. And then he comes back with another 30. Like, wait. All right. And I’m in Florida watching the game. I’m like, dang, Jeremy Lynn going off. And then he played the Lakers. Had 38 on Kobe. I’m like, wait, hold on now. Hold on. Something ain’t right. And then I get back to New York and the city’s crazy. We played the game against Toronto and it was down to the last, you know, few seconds and I’m like, “All right, this is my time to hit the game winner.” Dyn kind of moves everybody out the way. I got this and pulled up for the three. Won the game. Melo came back, got a little tricky cuz wasn’t playing much and the ball wasn’t going to him as much. So it kind of dropped there.

Jeremy Lin, famously known as “Linsanity,” captured the basketball world by storm during a magical stretch in February 2012 with the New York Knicks. An undrafted point guard out of Harvard, Lin had bounced around the league before getting his shot with the Knicks. At the time, the team was struggling, dealing with injuries to key players like Carmelo Anthony and Amar’e Stoudemire. Lin, who had been sleeping on a teammate’s couch just weeks before, was given a chance—and what followed was one of the most improbable and electrifying runs in NBA history.

Over the course of a few weeks, Lin averaged over 20 points and 9 assists per game, leading the Knicks to a seven-game winning streak. His breakout performance came against the New Jersey Nets on February 4, when he scored 25 points and led the team to victory. From there, he torched elite opponents like the Lakers (with 38 points vs. Kobe Bryant) and hit a game-winner against the Raptors. Lin’s fearless drives, clutch shooting, and ability to energize Madison Square Garden gave the Knicks new life and reignited a fanbase hungry for success.

Beyond the stats, Lin’s cultural impact was immense. As the first American-born NBA player of Taiwanese descent to make such a splash, he became a global icon almost overnight. “Linsanity” wasn’t just about basketball—it represented hope, underdog resilience, and the breaking of racial stereotypes in professional sports. His time with the Knicks was brief, but unforgettable. Even years later, fans still look back on that 2012 stretch as a once-in-a-lifetime phenomenon that revived the spirit of Knicks basketball, if only for a moment.