Let Linsanity live! Jeremy Lin will return to Madison Square Garden on December 17, when Lin's former team, the New York Knicks, hosts the Houston Rockets, the NBA announced Thursday. It will be Lin's first interaction with the Knicks and their fans since leaving for Houston during NBA free agency.
The Knicks failed to match the $25 million offer sheet, and it's widely believed around the league to be because of the way he "betrayed" Knicks owner James Dolan, when he went back to field a higher offer from Houston. From a basketball standpoint, it was almost a no-brainer that the Knicks would match the offer.
Instead, the team acquired former Knick fan favorite Raymond Felton from Portland via sign-and-trade, who will likely spend the season starting in Lin's old spot.
It is yet to be seen how Knicks fans will welcome Lin, who they once viewed as their beloved son when he single-handedly lifted the team's spirits and launched them back into the playoff race in February 2012. The fan argument has been split thus far, with some believing Lin was right to accept his highest offer, and some believing that Lin was wrong for deceiving the Knicks.
In reality, Lin deserves no fault for accepting an offer lucrative to him. For all he knows, this could be the 23-year-old's only payday. The $25 million for 25 starts sounded good to Lin, and it would sound pretty worth while to anybody else in Lin's shoes, too.
The Knicks lost Lin, not because of Lin, but because of James Dolan.
It was just another fault in Dolan's notorious ownership: Failing to better his team in favor of satisfying his own personal vendettas. The luxury tax that the billionaire Dolan would have to pay if he had signed Lin was largely overplayed by the media. Candid former Knick, Landry Fields put it best, when he said that Houston's "poison pill" was more like a Tic Tac for James Dolan. The money wasn't the issue. It was Dolan's immature temper.
James Dolan's tenure as owner has crippled the Knicks' success for more than a decade. The way the Lin situation unfolded should come as no surprise to those who follow the team.
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As for Lin, he'll likely go on to perform well in Houston. He may live up to his near $15 million salary three years from now. He may not.Â
However, it's unlikely we'll see anybody replicate the stretch Lin gave us in New York last winter. Without Linsanity, the Knicks very well may have been a lottery team once again, still searching for their first playoff win since 2001.
It's is why every fan under the Garden roof on December 17, 2012 should be on their feet when they hear No. 7's name announced for the visiting team. Since, if he had it his way, he'd be introduced a few minutes later, donning orange and blue laundry.
Jeremy Lin is not the man who should be condemned by Madison Square Garden on December 17. That man can be found in the driver's seat of the organization. James Dolan is the man you are looking for.
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