The New York Knicks confirmed late Saturday that Jeremy Lin will have surgery on his torn meniscus this week, putting him out of service for six weeks. The regular season has less than four weeks left, and the likelihood of New York making the playoffs and peeling enough games off of the Bulls or Heat to be playing six weeks from now is low. That effectively ends Lin's season.
Lin had a meteoric rise in off-court fame and on-court notoriety this season. In his second year after going undrafted in 2010, the former Harvard point guard was on the verge of being cut by the Knicks when injuries forced coach Mike D'Antoni to begin playing him more. Lin embraced the opportunity and blew opponents out of the water, having huge games against the likes of the L.A. Lakers and Dallas Mavericks. He ended up with 11 20-point games this season, and seven games with 10 or more assists. All seven of those ended up as double-doubles.
Off the court, Lin's Asian-American heritage and against-all-odds success drew huge attention. That his breakout happened in New York, on the league's grandest stage at Madison Square Garden, certainly fueled the media fire.
Lin will be a free agent as of July 1. It is expected that the Knicks will work to retain him quickly.
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