“Linsanity,” the documentary about the rise of unlikely NBA point guard Jeremy Lin, premiered in Park City to rousing response, easily making it one of the most crowd-pleasing documentaries to play the festival this year. Sports fans stood up and cheered, while a coach said he thought it should be mandatory viewing for high school athletes.
Rags-to-riches tales don’t come any richer than this. Raised by Taiwanese immigrants in Northern California, Lin was overlooked at every stage of his career before becoming a sensation quite literally overnight a year ago. Lin’s high school team wasn’t given a prayer against Southland powerhouse Mater Dei. Recruits at Pac-10 schools passed him by. He went undrafted before being signed by various NBA teams and relegated to their lowly D-league squads.
