Great article from one of the best in the Biz, and so spot on to call out to the passion from his fanbase and how it is understood why Lin coming off the bench in a preseason game can cause so much uproar. He's a very easy person to root for on and off the court. However, you take the bad with the good with Lin because he is who he is, and that's not a bad thing even if there are is a segment of his fans that will forever go to great links for this guy in ridiculous fashion. The fact is, Jeremy Lin, the person and player deserves to be judged separate from his somewhat crazed fan-base. He seems like a great guy, and is a player I genuinely root for as much as any other player in the game. OP- please do not post entire Rockets.com articles in the thread. They track how popular and the amount of reads per article so we need to support Jason's work here by giving him page clicks.
Yep. I love Lin as a person, respect his game and believe he can be very very good, and hate his fans. I thought Yao's fans were bad, Lin's are are worse than Kobe fans.
Like Friedman I think Lin is really good kid and a great ambassador for the game (and also a good player). I can understand his trepidation for sharing this story, however. I think that Lin was giving him those shoes out of kindness, but one could put darker motivations on it and call it a bribe: you know, I give you the shoes you want and you give me better coverage. Now their relationship is different from the standard player-reporter relationship because Friedman works for the team. But if I was advising NBA players, I would tell them not give presents to regular members of the media because of the potential of people perceiving it the wrong way. But let me make two things clear: 1) I think Lin had good intentions only. 2) I think Friedman does an exceptional job as someone who is a blend of reporter and PR person. He manages to play that role but still write intelligently. Not an easy feat at all!
Now that's an exaggeration. I know plenty of Kobe fans. They really don't get worse than that except for maybe some of the Heat fans. Kobe will play like crap and Kobe fans will still say he had a great game. It truly is a sickness... :grin:
Kobe fans think it's "arguable" that Kobe is better than MJ. LOF know Harden and Dwight are the stars on the Rockets. Let's not get it twisted.
Yep, I totally love Jason Friedman's articles too, and am impressed by how he treads the line between insider and observer so well. He's practically the only person whose articles about the Rockets I enjoy reading anymore.
Shhh. But yea my bad. Thought I only got part of it, but hoped those periods at the end would throw people off into thinking there's more. Thanks a lot! Picture in the actual article though. Click on the link people!
Beyond the scope of basketball, I think the majority will agree with my statement that he is a genuine person, a very "down-to-earth" individual, and a role model who stays true to his words and actions.
I don't use hate casually. My dislike of LOFs approaches Karl Malone level, so hate would be an appropriate description.
Wow, I don't know what inspired Jason Friedman to write this, but toward the end, well, let's just said, where did all this dust come from. I hope Friedman never becomes jaded and burnt-out like Jason Quick.
