The New York Knicks tweeted out a surprising stat about Jeremy Lin, as they may continue to pay tribute to him this week.
He scored more points in his first four starts than Hall of Famers Allen Iverson, Shaquille O’Neal and Michael Jordan.
In fairness, Lin was older than the other three were when he made his first four NBA starts, but, on the other hand, he had a much tougher road to becoming a starter.
Lin played four seasons at Harvard but despite having an outstanding collegiate career went undrafted in 2010. In his rookie season, he bounced back and forth between the D-League and the Warriors but rarely played for Golden State. In the offseason, he was picked up by the Rockets but waived before the season started.
The Knicks picked up Lin in December of the 2011-12 season. He played just 55 minutes over his first 23 games with New York but with the team struggling Mike D’Antoni, then the team’s head coach, gave Lin a shot. He had 25 points, seven assists and five rebounds in 36 minutes off the bench, leading the Knicks to a win against the Nets.
It was the birth of Linsanity.
The next game he took over as New York’s starting point guard and never looked back.
