Jeremy Lin – Seizing Your Opportunity
Occasionally there are sports stories that transcend the sport itself. For those who are diehard NBA fans, you undoubtedly have heard the story of the New York Knick’s point guard Jeremy Lin. The story is so inspirational that even those individuals who never watch or follow basketball might have heard of Lin and his exploits. For those who haven’t heard Lin’s story, it is worth following as there are numerous lessons from Lin’s life we can apply to our business and personal lives.
Lin’s Background
Lin’s parents, each 5’6” tall, emigrated from Taiwan in the 1970s. While a statistical analysis on parental height of NBA players has not been conducted, it is likely that few NBA players have ever had parents that short. Lin excelled for his high school team in California but local colleges Cal, UCLA, and Stanford all failed to give him an athletic scholarship. They showed cursory interest and said Lin could attempt to walk on but that was the extent of what these colleges were willing to give. Harvard and Brown both told Lin that he would be guaranteed a spot on their respective teams and Lin chose Harvard.
While Harvard and other Ivy League schools can be excellent launching pads to many careers, these colleges are not exactly a path to professional basketball greatness. Before Lin, the last player Harvard had sent to the NBA was in 1951. That player was Edward Smith who also played for the Knicks who averaged 2.5 points in 11 games for the Knicks in the 1953-54 season.
While he received many accolades playing at Harvard, Lin went undrafted in the 2010 NBA draft. After trying out for a few teams, Lin signed a two-year contract with his hometown Golden State Warriors. Lin received very little playing time in his first season and several times, during the course of the season he was sent to Golden State’s D-league, basketball’s version of a minor league. Lin maintained a positive attitude during his first year, which would end up being his only year playing for Golden State. On the first day of training camp in 2011 the Warriors would cut him.
Lin was soon signed by the Houston Rockets but would last only a couple of weeks on their roster before being cut again. The New York Knicks claimed him off waivers this last December after one of their point guards was injured. He didn’t play much at first, but in early February he was presented an opportunity to showcase his talents. The Knicks suffered a rash of injuries to some of their starters and on February 4, and Lin was given his chance to shine. This will mark the day that Lin-sanity, as it is currently being called, kicked off.
On February 4, the Knicks stood at 8-13 and Lin would score 25 points leading them to victory. Lin would get his first start the next game and scored 28 in a win. After scoring 23 points and a third consecutive win, the national media started to pay attention. The next game, Lin scored 38 on Kobe Bryant’s Lakers and the story started becoming a fairy tale. In these four games, Lin set records for being the first player in the NBA to score at least 20 points and average seven assists in their first four starts. At the time of this writing, the Knicks were 6-0 under Lin, despite being without their top two starters, Carmelo Anthony and Amar’e Stoudemire.
The effect Lin has already had on the NBA is widespread. The Knicks have already raised ticket prices on an average of 27%. Other teams with Lin on the schedule have raised their prices and are running out of tickets. Jersey sales have flown off of the shelf and even Madison Square Garden’s public stock has jumped on investor speculation that having Lin will help the Knicks in their cable TV feud. Lin-sanity might very well become a household word after this is all done.
What we can take from Lin-sanity
While it is unlikely that any of us have a chance to play point guard in the NBA, there are wonderful lessons to be learned from Jeremy Lin’s story. While Lin has true talent, few even in the midst of this story are attributing Lin to having elite talent. He has taken the talent he has been given and worked extremely hard to reach where he is now. Lin was never guaranteed that he would be given an opportunity to play in the NBA but he worked every day to be prepared if that opportunity presented itself.
Someone in Lin’s situation can never truly know if the opportunity will ever be presented. There is no doubt that countless athletes with far greater talent than Lin have given up along the way when adversity and obstacles occurred. Few people have paths to success that are easy as most of us have to work hard, acquire knowledge and skills, and then seize opportunity when it presents itself.
This truly is the key. If you are persistent, dedicated, and believe in yourself then opportunity will come knocking. If you are a real estate investor, armed with the proper knowledge, then if you keep making offers, you will find successful deals. If you are an entrepreneur who has developed a great product or service, then pitch your idea to enough investors and eventually you will hear a yes. Sometimes stock traders have to wait for companies to become valued or look through hundreds of trade setups to find the right trade, but persistence always pays off.
The key for real estate investors, traders, and entrepreneurs is to never stop traveling down the road to success. In these areas of investing, opportunity will present itself eventually and the dedicated will be rewarded. When it does, we need to be savvy enough to recognize it, and bold enough to seize the opportunity. Have faith in yourself, envision the life you want, and don’t be surprised when it happens.