How come Dat Nguyen never achieved the Lin-level fame?

Did nothing spectacular (in a media sense). Not from Harvard, not undrafted. Didn't play in media capital of the world.

Linebackers don't get the attention in the NFL, other than LT and Ray Lewis.

 

Probably the same reason a decent sixth- or seventh-man in hoops might make more than a starting gridiron Pro-Bowler; there are less of them and they see your face.

 

If you're equating the two you're looking only at nationality/race and missing the compelling story of Lin.

 

agreed.

Everyone already knew how good Dat was in high school. He got a D1 Scholarship to Texas A&M, then was drafted.

For Lin to be the California Player of the Year and then not get offered 1 D1 scholarship is crazy. Then to be Ivy League player of the and go undrafted is crazy. Lin had NO media attention and then suddenly was a break out star. Thats why he is a story - not because of his race.

 

Because everyone is jealous of the Aggies.

 

the factor is how ridiculously unique this story is. no D-1 scholarship...no calls on draft day...bounced around as a bit player....only got playing time after others got hurt. and then performs at this level? that reads like a Hollywood script. it's a compelling story no matter what color his skin is. i could not care less that he's asian, personally....but i'm captivated by the story.

the only similarities i see between Lin and Nguyen is race and that together they could form the title of a kick-ass Dr. Seuss book.

 

1) Undrafted ranks to superstar caliber numbers overnight (Remember, Arian Foster got quite a bit of Pub for this when he was breaking out, though not quite as much as Lin. This also happens more often in the NFL, while superstars seem to rarely come out of nowhere in the NBA).

2) He plays in NY for the Knicks. If he had stayed in Houston, and had the same numbers, it would have been a nice story, but not blown up as much as it has.

Nguyen was an All-American in D-1 NCAA football, so him doing well in the pros was not a surprise.

 

Maybe it's because an unknown sleeping on a couch broke the record for most points scored in their first 4 starts, beating out Jordan and Shaq, since the NBA-ABA merger. That's like a 30-40 year record from a guy with a non-guaranteed contract.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/2012/feb/13/jeremy-lin-harvard-taiwan-knicks-nba?newsfeed=true

 

all that plus football isn't nearly as popular internationally than basketball, especially in asia

 

You sure race has nothing to do with it? Dont be ignorant.

 

Bingo. He didn't win POTY, and even if he had, it still shouldn't be shocking that he went undrafted. Matt Maloney may have had the best career on that list!

The whole "California player of the year" thing is a bit of an exaggeration. too. Just like Texas, California has a bunch of divisions -- Lin was the "Northern California Division II Player of the Year". He put 15-7-6, which is good, but as a 6-1 guard without projectable athleticism, not the type of thing that's going to get you major offers. For comparison, Chase Budinger (who graduated the same year, in California) averaged 34-11-5 as a high school senior.

It's a fantastic story of a guy who has continued to get better, and then stepped in when it was his time to shine. As RMJ said, undrafted players rarely explode like this.

Then again, I suppose if Anthony Morrow had followed up his 37 point explosion with a few more wins, he might have earned more publicity.

 

It reminds me more of when Kurt Warner came from bagging groceries to breaking records in the NFL.

 

Because he wasn't nearly as good relative to his peers as Lin has been (or Yao was)... only briefly good, but never great, played a position that offers little fame, in a sport that breeds anonymity.

 

Wang Zhizhi and Mengke Bateer didn't get Lin type attention either. They are the first and second players to ever play in the NBA.

 

lin is part of a perfect storm. ny had their two superstars out. they were losing when the stars were active. they had nothing and people expected nothing. lin jeremy enters the untended garden. he tends it. people became excited. ny came.

 

They werent American.

 

Dat Nguyen is a real quality guy. His career was cut short by that devastated neck injury he suffered. He could have played a lot longer for the Boys and a hall of famer.

He has several businesses and one of them is mortgage banking. He is one of my connections in LinkedIn.