HONG KONG — He’s Linjured. There, we’ve said it.
Jeremy Lin, the young point guard who has been having a sensational year with the New York Knicks, will miss the rest of the regular season due to a knee injury.
Jason Szenes/European Pressphoto AgencyJeremy Lin of the New York Knicks announced he will have knee surgery this week.“It sucks,’’ said Mr. Lin, a Harvard man, in speaking about the injury, a small tear to the meniscus in his left knee. He is scheduled for surgery early this week in New York — the operation is considered routine — and the expected recovery time is six weeks.
Meanwhile, another bit of Knicks-related basketball news is captivating Asia: Stephon Marbury, the two-time N.B.A. All-Star, scored 41 points to lead the Beijing Ducks to the Chinese Basketball Association title, a first for the team.
“We shall thank you, dear Starbury, too, for bringing a dream season to all the fans who love this game,’’ said a commentary in the state-controlled China Daily newspaper.
In a torrent of Twitter messages, Mr. Marbury, 35, who spent five occasionally tempestuous seasons with the Knicks, said repeatedly that he had “no desire at all” to return to the N.B.A.
“I’m not going back, don’t worry,” he said. “It’s way better here.”
In another message, he said, “Basketball is global, folks. It’s not just the N.B.A. anymore.”
Mr. Marbury hails from Coney Island, and the Spike Lee basketball film, “He Got Game,” was partly filmed there at his childhood courts at O’Dwyer Gardens. But his separation from the Knicks was less than pleasant, and on Sunday he tweeted that he would never again play for the team — “not at GUNPOINT.”
@ELGINDOTCOM my ♥4 the KNICKS will remain 4ever. That’s my home town team. The people who run it need to be dismissed. They won’t win until.
— I AM PEACE STAR (@StarburyMarbury) April 1, 2012
The center on Mr. Marbury’s Beijing squad, by the way, is Randolph Morris, another Knick alumnus, who also said he prefers China and wants to keep playing there.
Dusty Lane, a sports commentator for the state-run newspaper China Daily, said the formerly lame Ducks have suddenly become “the league’s marquee club” in basketball-crazy China.
“They captured the imagination of the nation’s capital, bringing a rare title — of any kind — to a city that’s been starving for success for a decade,” said Mr. Lane, who noted that Mr. Marbury had “connected with Chinese fans in a way perhaps no foreign star has before.”
Some 80 million people in China watched the final game — it was the fifth game in a best-of-seven series — and tickets were reportedly being scalped for $635 each.
The Ducks’ home court is the Shougang Gymnasium, which Mr. Lane says is “in the middle of nowhere.”
“It’s dark, it’s small, and the only food to be found comes from what amount to little card tables on the concourse,” he said. “In its own way, it’s a great, gritty atmosphere for die-hard fans, but it feels more like you’re there to get a pool cue broken over your head than watch a professional basketball game.”
But Mr. Marbury, often embroiled in controversy during his N.B.A. days, seems to have found some measure of peace in China. My colleague Bill Rhoden wrote about Mr. Marbury’s frequent moments of zen, and three weeks ago Mr. Marbury was the cover story in the Chinese edition of Sports Illustrated.
But back to the Linjury report: The Knicks finish their season on April 26 and it’s possible that Mr. Lin, 23, could rejoin the team if they make the N.B.A. playoffs. Although he has never had surgery of any kind, he said, “I tend to heal fast.”
Still, making it back for the playoffs will be a tough turnaround, said Dennis Scott, the former NBA player-turned analyst (who also did a short stint with the Knicks).
“It’s gonna be Lincredible — for him to have the surgery, how he responds, the rehab, get in shape, get your rhythm, get your timing back,” said Mr. Scott.
Lin: “When I come back I’ll be stronger than I ever was and a better player.” #Knicks
— NBA New York Knicks (@nyknicks) March 31, 2012
Mr. Lin is the first Taiwanese-American and the fourth Asian-American to play in the N.B.A. He’s also just the fourth Harvard alumnus to play in the show.
In February he took over the starting point guard position on what had been a desultory Knicks team, turning in some stunning offensive performances. His 3-pointer at the buzzer to beat Toronto will certainly make the league’s highlight reel for this season. A brief video clip of that shot is here.
He followed that with a 38-point effort in a victory over the Los Angeles Lakers, then put up a double-double as the Knicks beat the N.B.A. champion Dallas Mavericks. By that time, Linsanity had become a full-on global phenomenon.
Amid the frenzy over his play, Mr. Lin also unwittingly became the focus of a controversy, which Rendezvous explored, when two ESPN announcers used the phrase “chink in the armor” when discussing his play. The network apologized and Mr. Lin barely gave it a mention.
He was averaging 14.6 points, 3.1 rebounds and 6.1 assists per game before being sidelined by the knee injury.