Basketball Movie Review
Linsanity
Jeremy Lin's path from overlooked recruit to global Knicks phenomenon is strongest when the movie remembers how many times basketball had already told him no.
The February 2012 explosion is fun, but the real movie is the years of being underestimated that made those Madison Square Garden weeks feel impossible.
Movie details
2013 · 1h 29m · Documentary
Director Evan Jackson Leong
- Jeremy Lin
- Yao Ming
- Daniel Dae Kim
- Evan Jackson Leong directed the documentary, which traces Jeremy Lin from Harvard and an undrafted NBA path through the 2012 New York Knicks phenomenon.
- Daniel Dae Kim narrates the film, while Yao Ming and several people from Lin's basketball journey appear in the documentary.
01
The Take
Everyone remembers the Knicks run, but Linsanity works because it spends time on the rejection ledger first: limited recruiting interest, Harvard, going undrafted, being waived and living on the edge of NBA employment. That context turns the sudden New York eruption from a hot streak into one of basketball's strangest visibility flips.
02
Does the Basketball Hold Up?
The film shows why Lin's success was not magic. Pace, pick-and-roll reads, rim pressure and confidence all existed before the headlines; the opportunity simply arrived at maximum volume. The NBA material also captures how quickly scouting attention changes once a player starts hurting real teams.
03
Best Basketball Moment
The Knicks winning streak as Madison Square Garden realises in real time that the emergency point guard is not a temporary gimmick but the centre of the entire basketball story.
04
Ball Cred
Director Evan Jackson Leong had access to Lin's journey before the New York explosion, allowing the documentary to show the overlooked years instead of starting with the fame.