Jeremy Lin: Broadway’s answer to Brandon Jennings
The Jeremy Lin craze continues, and we keep hearing that the NBA never has seen the likes of the Linsanity craze. Keep hearing that this isn’t a New York phenomenon.
They’re kidding, right? Never seen it? A similar occurrence happened two years ago. You might not have seen it, but only because you weren’t watching.
In the 10 games since Mike D’Antoni decided to start playing Lin more than garbage minutes, Lin has averaged 24.6 points, 9.2 assists and shot 49.7 percent from the field. Lin’s Knickerbockers have gone 8-2, despite an 8-15 record up to that point. An amazing turnaround. An amazing story. A kid with no Division I scholarship offer goes to Harvard, goes undrafted, works himself onto an NBA roster, gets cut twice, gets picked up by the Knicks, is in danger of being cut again, his coach is in danger of being fired, he gets to play out of absolute necessity and promptly sets the world (literally) on fire (figuratively).
Great, great story. Just don’t pretend it’s never happened.
Three years ago, Brandon Jennings got out of the basketball factory of Oak Hill Academy in Virginia and decided he wanted no part of the NBA’s prejudicial rule against high schoolers immediately entering the league. So he went to Europe for a year. Milwaukee drafted him No. 10 overall in summer 2009.
The Bucks made Jennings their starting point guard. In Jennings’ first 10 games, Milwaukee went 7-3, despite a 34-48 record the previous season. Those 10 games were Jennings’ first out of high school other than the season in Italy, when his playing time was hit-and-miss.
In those 10 games, Jennings averaged 25.2 points, 5.9 assists and shooting 48.2 percent from the field. For a point of reference, Russell Westbrook this season, playing out of his mind good, is averaging 23.4 points, 5.5 assists and shooting 47.4 percent from the field.
Funny, I don’t remember Jensanity. I don’t remember round-the-clock coverage of Brandon Jennings in those early days of November 2009. I don’t remember President Obama commenting on the Jennings phenomenon. I don’t remember dissertation after dissertation on the merits of skipping college to play a year in Europe.
Jeremy Lin is not a New York creation. Jeremy Lin is a Jeremy Lin creation. A Mike D’Antoni creation. Maybe even a Carmelo Anthony-got-injured creation.
But Linsanity is a New York creation.
In Brandon Jennings’ seventh game in the NBA, he scored 55 points on 21 of 34 shooting. If Jeremy Lin had scored 55 points in a game sometime the last two weeks, New York City would have staged a ticker-tape parade, and ESPN would have shown it live on four networks.
This is no disrespect to Jeremy Lin. He’s playing sensationally, and he’s resurrected a sour Knick season. It’s also no disrespect to Jennings, who is a solid pro. In Year 3 in the NBA, Jennings is averaging 18.3 points and 5.2 assists per game; he’s shooting 40.6 percent from the field. He’s not a great player. He might never be a star again. Jennings also is talking about getting out of Milwaukee.
And now you know why players talk about getting out of Milwaukee. Average 25.2 points a game your first 10 games as a pro in Milwaukee, and the basketball world says, that’s nice. Average 24.6 points a game a Knickerbocker revival, and you’ve affected world trade markets and made Tebowmania look small fry.
Sure, the Asian-American element makes the Jeremy Lin story unique. But which scenario would be closer to the current madness: Jeremy Lin doing what he’s doing, only in Milwaukee, or Brandon Jennings, doing what he did, only in New York?
I think we know the answer.
-------------Berry Tramel can be heard Monday through Friday from 4:40-5:20 p.m. on The Sports Animal radio network, including AM-640 and FM-98.1. You can e-mail him here and follow him on Twitter @BerryTramel. Visit Berry's website here.
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Comments
I don’t think you know the answer. Did Brandon Jennings get a college scholarship? Did Brandon Jennings get drafted? Was Brandon Jennings waived by two NBA teams? Was Brandon Jennings the last guy on the bench? What is your point?
It’s a good show on Broadway nevertheless. Wish NY was coming to OKC some time soon, but unless we meet them in the playoffs we won’t see them again here this year.
Your comparison is pretty way off the mark on this one. I’m a little bit annoyed with all the news coverage, too, but Brandon Jennings has little in common with Lin with the exception of similar stats their first ten starts. Yeah, pretty much everything else is different.
You mentioned it, but you’re downplaying that everyone knew of Brandon Jennings (drafted 10th overall, etc).