Senior, grad knew Lin before fame

He scored more points in his first five starts than any other player in NBA league history. More than Michael Jordan. More than Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. More than Shaquille O’Neal.

And he grew up just 17 miles away in nearby Palo Alto.

Since his breakout game on Feb. 4, Bay Area native and current NBA basketball player Jeremy Lin has risen rapidly from relative obscurity to national fame and carried the previously hapless New York Knicks to seven consecutive victories, spawning a phenomenon known simply as “Linsanity.”

Local basketball fans in particular have followed the rise of Asian-American Lin, a 2006 Palo Alto High school graduate.

Knowing a celebrity

Senior Daniel Tang, for one, has been paying special attention to the “Linsanity.” After all, his family and Lin’s have been close friends for as long as he can remember, ever since his older brother and Lin’s younger brother first became best friends in elementary school. Before Lin moved to New York, the two families made an effort to spend time together a few times each month.

“My favorite memories with him are playing basketball together. It’s … intense,” recalls Tang, whose profile picture on Facebook is a snapshot of himself with Lin, their arms around each other’s shoulders. “We’re always destroyed.”

The two last hung out during the NBA lockout back in November, when they played Laser Quest. Even now that Lin is living in New York, Tang still closely follows his friend’s playing and success.

Lin’s sudden rise in fame hasn’t changed him as a person, according to Tang. He described Lin as “authentic,” not putting up a masked exterior during his interviews and for the press.

“He’s thankful for the opportunity and wants to make the best of it,” Tang said. “He’s still the same humble and nice guy he was before he became a pro athlete.”

And as for knowing someone famous, Tang said it’s definitely cool, but he stopped caring after a while “because it’s not actually you.”

“My friends all think it’s really awesome, though,” he said.

Glory days

2006 Saratoga graduate Ryan Matsuura first played against Lin in eighth grade as part of the Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) basketball leagues. A point guard himself, Matsuura distinctly remembers Lin as “undoubtedly a leader.”

“A fair number of players were better because they were bigger, stronger and faster. [Lin] wasn’t like that,” Matsuura said. “I doubt you would find many kids who were ‘intimidated’ by him, but he had a rep. Our team knew he could ball.”

Matsuura also clearly recalls Lin and his teammates dunking on his own teammates a few times, which “wasn’t very fun.”

Although he never played against Lin in high school since Palo Alto was in the more competitive DeAnza Division, years later Matsuura had the chance to see Lin play for Harvard while doing student radio work for Boston University.

“[He] put up mediocre numbers and didn’t really wow as a future NBA’er before his junior year,” Matsuura said. “But he [later] broke out with great games against Boston College and University of Connecticut.”

Lin’s friends have supported him step by step throughout his basketball career, and they often voice their support for him through social media, according to Matsuura.

“I’ve always liked the Knicks,” Tang adds. “But his presence on the team only made me like them even more.”