5:15 pm Aug. 7, 20127
When the New York Knicks decided not to re-sign Jeremy Lin, just days after coach Mike Woodson said they'd "absolutely" match any offer Lin would receive, they declined to explain themselves beyond a spokesperson acknowledging that the decision had been made.
Jeremy Lin, by contrast, explained himself at a press conference, in detailed interviews with Sports Illustrated and others, and even found time to reach out to a five-year-old boy who lamented his departure on Youtube.
As Naim enters the shot, clutching a Linsanity foam finger and crying, his father asks him what's wrong.
"The Knicks traded Jeremy Lin," Naim said, blubbering. "I'm so sad."
His father explains that the Knicks didn't trade him, but let him go for nothing. It makes even less sense to Naim.
When his father tries to reassure him, Naim has the same reaction that many Knicks fans probably will.
"It's OK," Naim's father said. "We can still go to a Knick game, if you want."
Naim thinks for a moment.
"Why?", he asks.
Amazingly, Jeremy Lin himself provided the answer, Facetime allowing Lin to re-assure his distraught fan.
Instead of urging Naim to root for the Rockets, or move to Houston, Lin touts the Knicks.
"I'm going to miss playing in New York," Lin told his new friend Naim. "But you need to still root for them. They're going to be a great team, with or without me, alright? So you have to keep going to their games and watching them. They'll be really good."
Whether the Knicks will use this Lin endorsement in their forthcoming marketing campaigns remains to be seen.
Jeremy Lin has more class in his one pinkie than EVERYONE IN KNICKS MGMT combined. Not keeping Lin will never make sense no matter what reasons are given or not given.
This has nothing to do with PR. He is just that kind of person. Big heart.
This should not be spun into something his PR team sought after, Lin was down to earth, humble and sincere. I don't know how anyone can hate on this guy, a day before he leaves to Asia for a month, Jeremy took the time out to talk to my son and gave him so closure as a Knicks fan. Aside from the misleading title this was a good short read.
This is what LINsanity really stand for!
You are not insinuating that Jeremy Lin did this for PR purpose, are you, Mr. Megdal?
Jeremy Lin has always embraced social networking before Linsanity, so clearly it isn't a PR stunt. That's why he'll always have fans because of his good-hearted nature. Regardless, how one feels about his basketball skills, how could you hate him as a fellow human-being? What did he ever do to anyone?
If this was a PR stunt, don't you think the camera angles and film quality would be much better, like in those celebrity 'kissing' photos ? Lin is truly someone who feels the pain of this young boy and reaches out to console him.
Enjoy it while he's still a lesser known celebrity. If this was Lebron or Tony Romo, he would be talking through an army of publicists and lawyers.