Big Purr credits his Knicks fandom starting with Linsanity
Linsanity really was wild. Definitely feels like a you had to be there thing
That documentary crew hit the jackpot in timing to be following him right as linsanity was about to pop
There’s a documentary
yes there is
They just said there was
Yeah heard rumors about it too. There probably is one
I’m pretty sure there actually is a documentary already.
Gonna be so sweet if it comes out!
There’s 3 documentaries. 38 in the Garden, Linsanity, and Netflix I think has one
jeremy lin was wildly unique with him being chinese and harvard guy. he’d have cameras following regardless of anything
It’s crazy that there’s one very solid Chinese starter in Lin, and one borderline hall of famer in Yao, and then just no one else. Not another athlete of the 1.4 billion Chinese people can crack the rotation of the worst NBA team
Lin was 2 generations removed from China. Until he decided to go get beaten up there for being American for a change.
Um Yang Hansen. Unless what’s his name fired him already.
Dude is averaging like 0.2 points.
Back when NBA2K was actually around the year 2000, Wang Zhizhi from the Mavericks was an assassin
I know what you mean, but isn’t he American? And of Taiwanese descent to boot?
yeah all of these answers are odd. I get that his family is originally from Taiwan, but one of the top reasons to why he is important is that he is the first asian american to make it.
Given their current policitcal situation, it’s showing a level of respect to get this part right.
Taiwanese
Taiwanese … sorry to be pedantic
Oh believe me, in this case it is very much not pedantic.
It was back in 2012 where one of my friends (a diehard Knicks fan) invited me and some others to go watch them play at MSG. At the time, I wasn’t too into basketball but thought it would be a good time anyways.
They were playing the Jazz that night, 2nd game into Linsanity. Walking into MSG, I would overhear people talking about an Asian guy Lin who went off last game and that he was gonna play again tonight… The energy at MSG was intoxicating & watching Lin go off + Knicks win the 2nd game into Linsanity turned me into an instant fan.
It’s how hungry we are as fans. It takes almost nothing.
One good game from Lin; we’re all in. G1 ECF, down 22 Brunson hits one floater and Landry hits a 3 and we’re like THIS IS HAPPENING.
Yeah, exactly. Then, our fanbase will point to stuff like Linsanity to justify “Cam Reddish just needs minutes”.
“Remember that Cam Reddish 3?”
Yeah we all remember it.
It’s normal fandom, esp when the team is not so good. The GSW thread this year was hilarious with 80-90% of their salary out injured. Every time some bench player pops off for a game or two, the whole thread goes nuts and calls Kerr a terrible coach for not giving them more minutes. Then the guy gets more minutes, gets scouted, comes back to earth, and the thread moves on to the next guy.. blaming Kerr for no development lol
Honestly brunson is kind of similar to linsanity. Had a series of several good games on the mavs and then was cast aside from the team because they didn’t believe he’s worth the new contract.
I had a coworker who was drinking buddies with him at Harvard. She doesn’t watch basketball and knew nothing about what was going on. Lo and behold he calls her out of the blue and asked if she wanted knicks tickets cause he had extra. She got pretty good seats to see him ball out. Just crazy.
Dude. I was alive for Jordan. It definitely helped that he was in NY, but there was one month of excitement that felt like Jordan was back in the league, lol. Only thing I can compare it to.
It was 2 weeks and Linsanity and this Knicks run/team are the two brightest spots this millennium
Still way ahead of the kings with their one playoff series
That game against Kobe and the Lakers at MSG was unbelievable.
And Kobe still wouldn’t acknowledge him until he was on the Lakers
Even then it was begrudgingly
Im from Slovenia, didnt even watch NBA, knew about linsanity
His entire story was perfect for too - graduated Harvard (for those that don’t know, that’s a top 1% school where you don’t usually see a lot of NBA players from), but had to sleep on the couch and not a single team selected him when he was available for the draft.
Then he goes on single-handedly changing the trajectory of the Knicks and even going one on one against Kobe. It really was one of the wildest and more memorable stories in the NBA anyone has ever seen. Whether one wants to call it a Cinderella or “rags to riches” or Rocky story, it definitely had aspects of that.
Ah okay I’ve never heard of this Harvard school so it’s good to get some context
Super niche, no one has ever heard of it. I’m glad that got clarified as well.
I heard someone say they “went to school in Boston” and I immediately said “Worcester Polytechnic?” but no, it was Harvard. Who knew, I wasn’t familiar with it and told them so.
I was in middle school and I remember girls who didnt know how Lebron was knew about Jeremy Lin
Did they think to just ask him how he’s doing?
I remember watching the first game and my cousin and I were going nuts lol.
P.E. Basketball in high school during that time was wild! Had kids picking me for their team sayin’ “We want Jeremy Lin! Get over here!” Was it a bit racist? Yeah, but fuck it, let’s ball!
Everybody was a Knick fan for a couple of months then.
I watched his game in Toronto when he sank the winning 3 and the whole arena cheered. 🤯
Now we have Winsanity
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=76C21_rjRMA
This is one of my favorite games to watch ever, he was so hyped going in and completely delivered. Oh no I was in high school when this happened…
You just know that Kat is a genuine dude and not just “humble” for the internet.
KAT Finals MVP I beg of yall
GET THE POPE ON THE LINE RIGHT NOW
Isn’t he a Villanova guy?
KAT went to Catholic school in elementary school and high school, I say it counts. Source: me, he went to my school.
The world is so small man, KAT went to highschool with my brother in law in Metuchen, NJ
Wildcat guy
I want this so fucking bad
PLEASE BASKETBALL GODS
SPEAK IT INTO EXISTENCE!!!
monkey paw curls
KAT becomes first player since Jerry West to win FMVP despite losing the finals
Hell that’s even more spicy.
Peak KAT.
He really does seem 100% genuine when you listen to him speak
It’s what I love most about KAT, super humble and genuine and a good guy on and off the court.
just look at his smile he is so giddy talking about him lol
He’s cheesing so hard when he said “For him to even mention me, is kind of crazy” 🥺🥹
He’s a man clearly comfortable with himself. Unfortunately a rarity especially among athletes.
Great role model for young kids with all the manosphere and snake oil sellers
This article that Jon K (one of our beat writers) wrote about KAT actually made me cry 🥹
The night of the trade he texted the reporter Jon if his daughter had a soccer game coming up. KAT promised her he would watch her play one day. The very next day, he drove decked out in Wolves gear to her soccer game so he could keep that promise before he left for New York 🥺
When asked what he was doing there, he pointed to the girl and said “I’m here to watch my niece” :’)
There is a small, but very real, part of me that might be even happier if he wins a chip in NY than if I watched Ant win one with MN this year.
I didn’t feel that way about KG in Boston, but I’ve got a lot of love for KAT
I get it. He’s such a great, kind person that it’s hard not to be absolutely ecstatic for him. I want him to win so bad, my heart will beam if he does
KAT has dealt with so much heartache and is still such a great guy. He truly deserves every good thing that happens to him. I’m pretty sure every Timberwolves fan will be cheering their hearts out for the Knicks.
I love Brunson to death, but if either KAT or Mikal get a FMVP that would be so awesome, they have received so much hatred for things they can’t control. Specially KAT, that would be so awesome, something for the books.
KAT’s impact on the court is not far from Jokic and Mikal is an elite 2-way wing of the kind we don’t have many in the league.
Dawg this article made me forever a fan back in 2024
What the hell man, I teared up reading this. Guess I’m a Kat guy now.
This quote gets me every time:
“As Towns leaned against a fence and watched the soccer game, one girl had a natural question for him. Why are you here?
He paused for a moment and said he came to watch his niece, pointing to a 9-year-old running around with the No. 32 on her back. KAT met Nita and her brother, Owen, years ago when I brought them to practice one day. He came over and handed them headbands, which was enough for Nita to be convinced that they were friends forever.”
😭 Jon K is a beautiful writer
Guy has gone through so much I always root for him
Good guy man. So many NBA players were jealous of Lin so this is refreshing to hear.
Right?? I feel like I pretty rarely hear NBA guys talking positively about Lin, so this is pretty awesome. Yet another example of KAT being a great dude.
I always see players talking good about Lin, I guess depends on where you get your talking points from
There’s a number of players that disgrard him as a just a lucky run.
The main hater being a knick himself lmao
Kobe didn’t play for the Knicks.
Carmelo was definitely a bigger hater than Kobe
Wait why were players jealous?
The fact he was a nobody and ascended to stardom at the rate he did. Lin has spoken about it many times that he was aware there were people on the knicks and other teams who were jealous of him.
However Melo gets most of the blame for that because of a NY post article that came out during that time calling him jealous, despite the fact Melo was out injured for a good majority of Linsanity. Even after a decade people still blame Melo, though Lin and Melo have publicly stated there were no issues between them or anything.
It was really Melo who didn’t fit in D’Antoni’s offense and D’Antoni eventually quit. While Lin flourished under D’Antoni offense. John Ireland of ESPNLA said that he was told during the Linsanity run, Melo wouldn’t run the offense and break plays, which Jeremy Lin also noticed. Melo also didn’t work in Houston and got traded, when D’Antoni was coach at the time.
First off D’antoni’s offense needs a star pg to run it or else its not that effective. Someone like Melo, and later Kobe aren’t suited for it. The offense was struggling badly even before Linsanity happened. D’antoni’s offense was very inflexible in many ways, besides also his no defense policy.
Also I doubt that report is accurate considering Melo got injured in game 2⁄3 of Linsanity and didn’t come back until the game before the Heat game where Lebron and company ended Linsanity, and Lin left that game injured. So how was Melo breaking plays during Linsanity from the bench in street clothes? After Linsanity there were still many games where Lin played really well with Melo until he got injured again and he missed the rest of the season/playoffs.
Melo not being suited for D’Antoni’s offense already speaks for itself, so that’s not on Lin. JLin actually played several games after the Miami Heat game, and then they went on a losing streak. The Miami Heat game was in February right before the All-star break. D’Antoni quit on March 14, 2012 while Lin’s last game was on March 24th, 2012. So during this time, it’s very possible that something happened behind the scenes. Melo and Houston also parted ways, when D’Antoni was their coach.
https://www.statmuse.com/nba/ask/jeremy-lin-stats-knicks
Look at Lin’s stats after the heat game with Melo in the lineup. He had several double digit scoring and assist games. Its not like he was doing terrible because of Melo.
The problem was D’antoni who was on the hot seat before Linsanity happened. His offense was too rigid for the players he had, and D’Antoni didn’t want to coach defense. He also was allergic to using his bench. Linsanity in many ways was a stay of execution for D’antoni, who ironically refused to play Lin until he had to because too many players were injured.
Also if Lin, who has no issue talking about his beef with Kobe, said there was no problem with Melo at all, then why do people persist in saying something happened.
yeah it was kobe who beefed with him
Yea I’m aware of Lin/Kobe beef, but sadly there is still a sizeable portion of the Knicks fan base that blame Melo for ending Linsanity, and for him leaving NY. Lin has publicly spoken well about Melo and said there was no issues there like Kobe, and there are fans who are still like naa he is lying, Melo was the problem.
well melo was certainly not super hyped about linsanity
nowhere near kobe levels
What are you talking about? There is literally videos from Linsanity of Melo hyped as fuck and cheering on Lin from the bench big time. The game where he cooked Kobe and Lakers come to mind in particular.
I’ve seen those, and it changed my view of the situation somewhat
I’ve also seen the videos of sour melo during that time…
Kobe beef
Har har har
It’s mostly because it ended when he went back and the team playing style went from Lin running the offense with pace to Melo isoing for 20 seconds.
Basically the question was “will Melo fit in and adjust to keep it rolling” and the answer was a resounding “absolutely the fuck not”
Racism. Nobody else will say it so I will.
Kenyon Martin said it, and then got a hilarious response from Lin.
Lin always conducts himself professionally.
It is said just about every time this comes up.
It’s because a large portion of the general public is racist against Asians so they’ll find other ways to discredit his success without addressing the obvious reason which is racism
Linsanity was absolutely insane in the moment. It took over the entire city.
Correction world. Had old folks talking to me about him at a Japanese supermarket in Sacramento where I worked. They stopped watching basketball after the 2001⁄02 Kings Lakers series.
Ah the world.
From NYC to Sacramento. 🇺🇸
Edit: For clarity sake, I believe it was a worldwide thing. And not the world mentioned above :)
Lol, though, to be fair, Linsanity was big overseas, and there’s even a comment by a Slovenian up above saying Linsanity was talked about there
Edit because of your edit: I see now; you were just ribbing him for talking about global Linsanity but then using Sacramento as an example, instead of something more international, haha
It was more like a Jordan level hype than most things, it was somewhat global ( Asia ate that shit up )
I was in Afghanistan and my buddy and I were at this random Fob that had a TV in the dining area…”hey, any of you guys hear about this Lin Sanity thing?”
The whole world man. Every asian supermarket had JLin broadcast and highlight playing. It was surreal.
I am Asian and I recall walking down a street in Manhattan during this time. I pass some random black guy and I hear him talking to his friend.
As I walk past him, I hear him excitedly say something like, “hey, he’ll know, he’ll know, watch this” I take a few more steps and I hear him yell, “LINSANITY!!!!!!”. I stop, turn around, point at him and give him a huge grin. I pound my chest and raise my fist in the air, and he does it with me, and we are just both happily screaming “let’s go!!!!” At each other.
What a joyful time to be alive.
Didn’t they also officially add the word Linsanity in the dictionary or something?
The world man. It damn near look like a three-way conflict between US, Taiwan, and China on who laid claim to him.
Linsanity was some of the best shit ever.
That’s was truly a worldwide event
Yup. People that weren’t there have no idea. People that never watched sports were looking up how to watch Knicks games
I just kept doubting him. “Okay, but there’s no way he does this again. Anyone can have a game or two where they’re on fire.” Then every game he’d come out and pull some crazy shit and prove me a fool. What’s funny is one of my buddies was a huge Jeremy Lin fan even before Linsanity. We even went to a “We Believe” Warriors reunion game where he was there and all my buddy was talking about was how stoked he was to see Jeremy Lin. When Linsanity happened a year or two later, it was like watching a kid find out Santa Clause was real.
Couldn’t even be mad at our home crowd rooting for another player
every chinese person in toronto was at that game
Wasnt it some asian appreciation night too
Lmao it was. I remember watching that shit live and the crowd was like 70% asian fans that were there for jeremy
Bro THAT game was absolutely wild. That game winner was when Linsanity peaked imo.
My wife from Philly and she was wearing a Linsanity jersey for that game
I still think about that Raptors game from time to time. The memory nourishes me!
i didnt hate Melo until Linsanity
anyone who tried to bring the vibe down of linsanity is trash
Every Asian kid I knew in Boston was a Knicks fan for that run
I’ll always love KAT, truly a wonderful guy and MN will always be behind him ❤️
KAT is a great person and does not deserve all the jokes, needling, and mockery that gets thrown his way. I love cheering for him in NY and I really respect what he was able to accomplish in MN before he was traded.
KAT is not fibbing, these were his tweets during Linsanity
Man you’re a real one for sharing this. Love to see it
I forget how young some of these kats are.
KAT sounded like me back then, especially after the trade.
##needhimasaknickerbocker
Linsanity was fun. Not even a knicks fan but I enjoyed the run.
Yep, Linsanity was a great time. Even for a moment I enjoyed him beating Kobe and my Lakers.
None basketball fans joined
Half of my school had Lin’s number on their jersey in varsity that year and some weren’t even Asian American, watched the sport and a lot were playing sports like handball (IYKYK), football, football, etc
He actually got me into basketball. I wasn’t even that big of a Knicks homer for most of it but I only started watching because of him
We need Jeremy Lin at the Garden sitting with the other legends.
Unfortunately, Dolan felt that Lin betrayed him by signing with the Rockets when the Knicks refuse to even offer him a contract and told him to go find himself one. And we know what a spiteful individual Dolan is.
Hopefully its water under the bridge, like David Lee left to the Warriors as a FA, and he was at the Garden recently.
The full part of the Jeremy Lin video said he was going to come to Game 5 of the Philly series
That obviously did not get to happen lol
I think he’s coming for Game 3, and it should be a THUNDEROUS reaction if so
That would be fantastic!
Shout-out to all the Knicks fans who got into the fandom thanks to Linsanity. This was what turned me from a single player NBA fan to finally sticking with a team.
Toronto game winner was pure cinema
LIN WITH THE BALL IN HIS HANDS
I was 6 during Linsanity. There is a drawing 6 year old me made of Jeremy Lin somehow out there. Definitely made me a fan of the NBA
Wow, I love KAT even more now.
Growing up as a Taiwanese kid in the Bay, seeing Lin blow up like that was surreal.
Linsanity b2b Warriors/Curry rise to dominance turned me from a casual to a fan of pro basketball.
There’s another Lin from New Jersey going to Penn next year. Look out for Ethan Lin. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WhI_Le-hSXE
I’ve been a Taiwanese Knicks fan since 99. Seeing the entire island sporting Knicks jerseys was a surreal time.
Linsanity made me a fan of the Knicks and pay more attention to the NBA in general. I don’t bother with any of the what if scenarios or drama involving Melo; it was just a magical time to be in NYC at the time. Everybody and their literal grandmas were rooting for the Knicks. Hearing his rags to riches story and how he was sleeping on Landry Fields’ couch then becoming the hottest topic in NY was just unbelievable. He’s also just so well spoken, humble, and doesn’t seem to take anything for granted. Glad to see KAT showing him some love too
Prior to Brunson’s signing, Linsanity was the most fun time to be a Knicks fan since 99
2013 playoff run #Knickstape
I’ll be honest I enjoyed Linsanity more than 99
Damn this made me feel old. Linsanity was in 2012 which would make KAT 16 at the time.
If feels like not that long ago.
KAT is such a good dude
KAT Finals MVP would be amazing.
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Rooting for kat to win!!! I just know ant is gonna be so hype for him
Shouts out to Linsanity, that shit is a must rewatch every year
RIP Modells
The Linsanity era despite being short lived is probably my favorite Knicks era outside of the current Brunson & Towns era.
Man that’s cool for Lin.
Linsanity still gets me harder than a moon rock
I love him 1000x more now lol, props! Capitalize Big Purr!!!!
Based
Two good dudes showing each other respect. Life is good and Knicks in 4
I know they kinda had to trade him with the new cap rules at the time but I miss KAT on the wolves so much
I’m here for Lin love.
Living in ny during linsanity & it was insane. My school had a little board in the gym during the win streak with his stats the night before on it
I needed to be reminded of Jeremy Lin today.
Thank you
I fucking love and miss you KAT. Go win it all
Linsanity goes beyond NY. Asians have been very rare to succeed in the NBA, but he was the first true Asian American to make it and the impact on the culture was groundbreaking.
Zach Lowe said this and I agree, get wild with it for the alumni for game 3. Get everyone in there
Modell’s
Now that’s something I hadn’t heard of in a LONG time
Melo punching the air rn
He talks about Linsanty like he was a kid. It must have been longer ago than I realize. I thought they were in the league at the same time
They were in the league at the same time but not during Linsanity
It was 2012 so kat would’ve been like a freshman in high school or something
I still remember watching his game winner against Toronto. My friends and I were going crazy leading up to the shot because he waved everyone off and just hit a fucking dagger. Linsanity was nuts
Carmelo gonna bust an angry sweat in his suede-suit
His game winner in Toronto is still ingrained in my brain.
I find it crazy how much the former NBA player turned podcaster crowd had negative things to say/would elevate their own importance when referencing Jeremy Lin. It’s an ego driven sport but it’s refreshing to hear a player of Kat’s level, An integral part of an Eastern Conference Championship team give Lin his flowers.
It’s actually supremely idiotic the Knicks didn’t match his contract. It didn’t matter what the luxury tax was going to be, it was going to be made up and surpassed in the marketing opportunities and jersey sales.
Time Warner and MSG were in a massive contract dispute and Cuomo had to step in to get this resolved just for Linsanity.
Big Purr is not one of his nicknames and he has stated he doesn’t like it
There are like 8 other better nicknames why you gotta be disrespectful?
Linsanity is still my favorite arc in the NBA
“big purr”. Ain’t no fuckin way that’s his nickname hell nah😂😂
KAT is such a chill dude.
Since when is Big Purr a thing
I really wish Kobe hadn’t been such a dick to him. I feel like Lin could have been a solid player for the lakers post Kobe.
I still get chills from Linsanity. Everyone at work was talking about him at the time, even people who didn’t watch basketball joined in on conversations. He kept getting better and better after game, really made the knicks special that season.
A lot of people forget that while Lin never reached Linsanity levels again, he was still a starter level player and was indeed the starting pg for the Nets when he suffered his season ending and career-altering injury. Lin is a pretty big what if scenario imo.
Awesome for everyone involved
Lmfao haven’t thought about Modells in years
Hey me too KAT
It’s a shame Dolan hates the kid and still holds a grudge. He should be there at the Garden to enjoy this Knicks run.
I usually hate the phrase “you don’t know ball” bc let’s be honest most ppl are just looking to be entertained even if they’re big fans. But if you downplay what Lin did for the Knicks and the fans, you truly do not know ball
Source: was at MSG for Lin vs Kobe
I remember when Lin was on the Warriors summer league team and earned a roster spot. His Linsanity run was legendary
He was on the Mavs summer league team but accepted a spot on the Warriors his rookie season.
No matter how much I want to hate the Knicks, I just can’t. KAT is such a genuine guy. He’s dealt with so much adversity and manages to keep putting good energy out into the world. How can you not root for him?
I just saw Carmelo Anthony, covered in wings, fall to his knees at Magic City.
Man is Modells still operating these days
I was such a KAT hater when he was on the wolves and I think it was best for the franchise and himself that he was traded to the Knicks. Don’t think his potential would’ve been met with the wolves. Happy seeing him thrive and I’m def rooting for NY
As a Taiwanese person. I am now a fan of KAT
Not just KAT.
I definitely have good vibes about the Knicks cos of watching Jeremy Lin during his Linsanity days.
Would love to see the Knicks win it all and watch Jeremy Lin celebrate with them.
👍
This playoff run is lasting longer than Linsanity