Jeremy Lin/Linsanity: Pain and Faith as a Catalyst for Change

 Jeremy Lin is an Asian-American former NBA player that most famously played on the New York Knicks in 2011. Lin’s huge impact on the Knicks and his seemingly abrupt rise to athletic dominance and world-wide fame created the term known as “Linsantiy”. 

However, Lin’s rise was not truly abrupt. 

Lin's journey was started out by constant and repeated rejection. He was undrafted and cut by two NBA teams. Without a job and a home, he was spending each night on the couches of several friends and family before getting a final, desperate chance with the New York Knicks. 

Lin stayed on the bench. However, in a tight game against the Nets, his team desperately needed players and he was put in to play as a last resort. Finally being given the chance he endlessly worked for, and on the last 10 days of his NBA contract, Lin put all his heart and effort into this moment. He scored 25 points, 5 rebounds, and 7 assists, leading the Knicks to a victory and left Madison Square Garden chanting for him. After this game, Lin would continue to lead his team to victory like an unstoppable blaze, even scoring almost 40 points against Kobe Bryant.

His immeasurable success after being on the brink of obscurity and a point of no return created one of the most inspiring "zero-to-hero" sports stories of all time. Lin being a devoted Christian, his faith taught him greatly about humility. It takes humility to endure all the failures that he did as an athlete. Lin’s belief and faith even through years of rejection and hardship was his secret weapon to keeping his head up and helped him grow and mature as a Christian and an NBA player.

In the book Faith, Hope, and Carnage by Nick Cave, the idea that pain is a catalyst for change is very prominent. After losing his son and using that grief to create music, Cave states, “Suffering is, by its nature, the primary mechanism of change. . . . God bestows upon us these terrible, devastating opportunities that bring amelioration and transformation”. This view links adversity to the unshakable motivation that drives creation, greatness, and success, suggesting that the pressure of loss and suffering forges a deeper desire for achievement.

Linsanity can be related to those ideas touched on by Cave since Lin’s story is often framed as a testament to working tirelessly, continuing to maintain belief in a dream despite every odd, and the undying resilience required to succeed even when the world seems like it is against you.