Irony in Making Money

The accumulating torches and pitchforks outside of James Dolan’s office make for the sexy ‘he is incompetent’ story. However, everyone seems to have missed the important irony in the departure of Jeremy Lin.

            He is cashing in on one of the teams that jilted him one year ago.

            Everyone with internet access knows about Lin’s rapid rise to stardom. For two weeks straight it was impossible to turn on ESPN without hearing the names of both teams that abandoned Lin. The first team was the Golden State Warriors. The second team was the Houston Rockets.

            The same Rockets that waved Lin last Christmas Eve signed him to a three year $25.1 million offer sheet yesterday.

            This irony is not sleazy, yet it is noteworthy. Lin did what virtually every athlete would have done: he went to the team that showed him the money. However, he is also leaving New York to re-write part of the story that made him loved.

             Yes the Knicks could have re-signed Lin, yet there is opportunity in Lin’s ironic return to Houston. Lin gets a second chance to grow his career for a team that told him he wasn’t good enough.

Professional sports are the ultimate platform for second chances. In a community that gives rapists, dog killers, and punks who hit their own mother opportunities to come back, Lin will get to prove to Houston he can replicate his 2012 season.

The fourth largest city in the U.S. is a great landing spot for Lin’s marketability. Six percent of Houston’s population are Asian American. Yao Ming’s jersey cracked the top ten in sales during his tenure in Houston, and so will Lin’s.

Lin the brand will be very successful in Houston, yet Lin the player still has a lot of growing to do.

Lost in Lin’s glorious 2012 stat line are the 4 turnovers per game he averaged. Lin still can’t do anything with his left hand, and still can’t guard a chair. As successful as Lin the brand has been so far, Lin the player is mediocre at best.

Still, Knicks fans are practically rioting over management’s decision to release their favorite sub-par point guard. While Linsanity sells tickets, the Knicks were not going to beat the Heat with a healthy Lin anyway. Guess the prospect of being the fifth best team in the Eastern Conference next as opposed to the sixth was worth $25 million to them.

Lin made it with the Knicks. Since he made it in New York, he will not have any issues making it in Houston. How Lin develops as a player is another matter all together.