During the Los Angeles Lakers Media Day, Jeremy Lin drew a healthy crowd of cameras, microphones and audio recorders. As would be expected, the topic of “Linsanity” and the miraculous story of a benchwarmer from Harvard taking over the storied New York Knicks and outplaying Kobe Bryant came up on a couple occasions.
At one point, a reporter even went so far as to ask a ridiculous question: “Would you like to start a ‘Win-sanity?”
“Sure, anything but ‘Linsanity,’” the Lakers’ point guard responded showing his tired attitude to the catch phrase constantly attached to his name. Was this a passing joke or truly how he felt about a period of time when Lin seemingly dominated the NBA and world news?
“I’ve been over ‘Linsanity,’” the Torrance-born California kid said.
After talking about all the jerseys he had donned including D-League jerseys, Lin talked glowingly about wearing the Lakers’ famous purple and gold. However, the subject and memory of ‘Linsanity’ persisted.
“Linsantiy is more like a one-off thing,” Lin explained. “It’s a short duration of time. I’m really looking to build a legacy, a long term thing, in terms of who I am as a person or who I am as a player. It’s kind of irritating to always be referred to as something of the past or some short time of the past.”
Lin dismissed the idea of recreating the “Linsanity” phenomenon with the Lakers because he did not believe it was possible.
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“The thing about Linsanity that will never ever happen again is the element of surprise because no one knew who I was.” Lin explained. “And that will never happen again.”
During his time in front of the cameras, Lin insisted on discussing defense far more than he spoke glowingly of “Linsanity.” In his first year with the Lakers and in the last year of his contract, Lin is determined to improve as a player and build a legacy that is beyond the short-lived craze that gripped New York during the tail-end of 2011.
“If at the end of my career, I’m still talking about ‘Linsanity,’ then I didn’t do a good job of my career.”
