Over the past week or so, we have heard plenty of entertaining Jeremy Lin comparisons. Lin said he takes a lot of inspiration from Tim Tebow and you could argue that their stories are somewhat similar. Both began the season on the bench and provided a massive spark when inserted into the lineup. Lin has been one of the best players in the NBA over the past five games, but for some reason Carmelo Anthony decided to not think before speaking when asked about Lin. If he had, Carmelo probably wouldn’t have compared his teammate to Rudy.
“He’s Rudy,” Anthony said Monday according to Knicks reporter Adam Zagoria. “That’s our Rudy.”
I realize Melo was trying to pay his teammate a compliment, but he did an awful job. For those of you who are unfamiliar with the legendary sports movie Rudy, it is based on the life of former Notre Dame player Daniel “Rudy” Ruettiger. Rudy walked onto the Notre Dame football team in the 1970s despite being 5-foot-6 and 165 pounds. He also suffered from dyslexia, which was a condition that was not well-understood at the time and gave him a lot of trouble in school.
At Notre Dame, Rudy earned the respect of his teammates through hard work and a refusal to quit. In that sense, Lin is like Rudy. However, Rudy played only two snaps in his collegiate career when his coach allowed him to dress for the final game of the season out of respect. Lin has averaged more than 20 points per game and led New York to its longest winning streak of the season. I suppose both are underdog stories, but Lin is an NBA superstar at the moment — not a practice hero who is hoping to fulfill his dream of playing one minute of an NBA game. Anthony probably had good intentions, but the comparison he chose is regrettable.
H/T The Big Lead
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