Even if you don’t follow sports at all and can’t tell basketball from rugby to save your life, you’ve still likely heard about Jeremy Lin. Taking over from Tim Tebow as the hot sports topic of the moment, the New York Knicks point guard has become a media sensation. And as befitting any flash in the pan figure whose 15 minutes could run out at any moment, a documentary is in the works.
24 Frames reports that Evan Jackson Leong — former assistant to “Fast Five” helmer Justin Lin (no relation), and friend of Jeremy’s — is helming the pic that will chronicle the athlete’s background, faith (he’s a staunch Christian) and his rise from Harvard graduate, to knockabout player in the NBA, bouncing from team-to-team, to improbable star. Leong has apparently been filming Lin for years but the timing couldn’t be better. The point guard is currently sidelined by an injury that required knee surgery, and is a free agent after this season. What better way to remind Knicks brass of his value than with a doc…?
Footage is currently being pulled together and the movie pitched around town, but we can only imagine the window on this being a decent buy is shrinking. With Lin off the court essentially until next season, who knows if he’ll still have the same mojo or if this was just some brief moment of glory? That said, his story is a “Rudy“-like inspiration, not only to everyday workhorses in sport looking for their break, but also to Asians both home and abroad, with Lin emerging as an unlikely role model and sex symbol.
So we’ll see if the Linsanity will lead to a movie making its way to cable or theaters soon. Until then, watch Leong and Lin’s previous collaboration, a “Life In A Day” segment around his stint with the Golden State Warriors that has gone on to earn over 2 million YouTube views.
