The NBA pre-season has already started and the Brooklyn Nets has already completed five games thus far.
What seems glaring in every Nets game during those five pre-season matches, Jeremy Lin is fast shaping up the most popular player to ever wear a Brooklyn Nets jersey, reports Viralocity.
Apart from being popular, Lin is also the best basketball player in the team during the first five preseason games, which is what counts most to the Nets management. But the team would also take his popularity any day of the week because it places the Nets on the popularity circle among the NBA elite teams and improves their marketability as well.
What seems to be going well for Jeremy Lin is his charm and capability to transcend beyond his basketball fame. He also has a bit of comedic talent in him, which he seems to know how to utilize to the hilt in his off-the-court appearances.
No plans to recreate Linsanity
Jeremy Lin said in a previous interview that he will not be recreating anything when he plays for the Brooklyn Nets, referring to Linsanity, which he first put on display while playing for the New York Knicks during the 2011-12 NBA season.
He said to the media back then that he is very big on always pushing forward and what’s next for his career. Lin also added that he does not dwell in the past whether they be regrets or accomplishments.
Surrounded by local and international media, Lin was the only player on the team who conducted interviews first in English and then in Mandarin. Later, as he was taking photos in front of a green screen, some of the Chinese media were invited to take a group photo with him.
Just watching from afar, the media demands can feel exhausting, but instead of just being an international celebrity, this is now part of Lin’s responsibility as one of the leaders on the Nets, details the Yard Barker.
Other than Brook Lopez, the Brooklyn Nets don’t have any other established top-tier talent on the roster. They’re rebuilding their foundation after relinquishing big stars recently that include the likes of Deron Williams, Joe Johnson, Paul Pierce, and Kevin Garnett.
Starting on a new slate
When the Brooklyn Nets signed Jeremy Lin to a three-year $36 million deal during the off-season, it came as a new beginning after a five-year ambitious plan to have a championship under then General Manager Billy King.
Apparently, it was King who proposed to Nets owner Mikhail Prokhorov the goal of winning a championship within the first five seasons of owning the team.
But that did not happen as the Nets and King made ill-advised moves and drafts that just turned the team into a so-so squad, which appears to be always trying to stave off elimination and not looking to make it to the playoffs at all.
Billy King has been replaced by Sean Marks as the new team GM, who eventually took in Kenny Atkinson as the new Nets head coach. Atkinson then took in Jeremy Lin, who was also a colleague with the New York Knicks.
As he is the biggest star in Brooklyn Nets, Jeremy Lin is also taking on the mantle of not just being the team’s starting point guard but also its team leader.
He said that he always wanted to be a leader but never had the opportunity to get it on his previous NBA teams.
Atkinson confirmed that he wants Lin to embrace his role as leader of the team, citing that it is a totally different role for Jeremy. He cited that he believes that being the team leader is part of the reason why Jeremy Lin agreed to sign up with Brooklyn in order to prove to everybody that he can be a starting point guard and a team leader in the league at the same time.
In a recent interview, Lin said that he knows on paper that everyone doesn’t have great expectations for the Nets and he is fine with that, moments after their team’s 100-97 pre-season loss to the Boston Celtics.
He said that they all know that they are NBA players, and are capable of competing at a high level so they just have to act like one.