Jerry Colangelo— the current director of USA Basketball— said Lin was "a great story for the NBA, for the Knicks, for this young man and what he's accomplished in such a short period of time."
The key word is "short."
The longtime sports executive also added," The players who already have time invested in the system have equity built up."
Could Colangelo be making the same mistake that big-time colleges and NBA teams did when they let Lin fly under their radar in the past?
In three weeks, Lin has made plenty of athletic directors, general mangers and coaches look back at how they missed out on giving the point guard his shot.
Lin has led the Knicks to victories over the Los Angeles Lakers and the defending champions the Dallas Mavericks by scoring 38 points and dishing out 14 assists— respectively.
Now, since Colangelo said he won't be swayed by Linsanity or the popular vote to put Lin on the Olympic squad, could the Chinese team come calling?
Xinhua, the state news agency of China, has already called on Lin to renounce his U.S. citizenship and suit up for the Chinese team.
Certainly, the U.S. would not want to see Lin playing for another country, but there is always that possibility. Many U.S. baseball players have used dual citizenship to compete in the Olympics for their ancestral countries. Why not Lin?
Lin's maternal grandmother is from mainland China and both of his parents were born in Taiwan and retain dual citizenship in Taiwan and the U.S..
Lin was born and raised in California, but has been offered dual citizenship in his parents homeland, according to his uncle Lin Chi Chung.
Taiwan did not qualify for the London Games.
J.R. Holder, a Pittsburgh native, played college basketball at Bucknell University and then the Russian National Team in the Beijing Olympics. He wrote a memoir of his once-in-a-lifetime experience and thinks Lin should give playing for China some serious consideration.
"If I were Jeremy Lin, I'd go to China," he said. "Take advantage of it."
Lin, with his humble, clean-cut ways would make a great ambassador for the U.S., more importantly, he may never get a chance to compete in the Olympics again.
Twenty potential members for the U.S. Olympic team were announced in January. From that group, 18 players have won a gold medal at either the 2008 Olympics in China or the World Championships in 2010. They have international playing experience— something the international phenomenon lacks.
Another problem for Lin is his position.
Olympic Coach Mike Kryzewski has noted that the position of point guard is deep with top-notch talent including Chicago's Derrick Rose, New Jersey's Deron Williams, The Clippers Chris Paul and Oklahoma City's Russell Westbrook.
So deep, even when Chauncey Billups was removed from the potential Olympians list because of injury, officials decided not to fill in the roster spot at the point guard position.
No such problem for the Chinese team. They haven't had a good point guard in years and, if they capitalize on the U.S. diss of Lin, it would have Mao smiling in his tomb.
Colangelo has to be aware of the mistakes talent evaluators have made about Lin up until three weeks ago.
"There are players who have sat on the bench and come in and surprised people before," he said. "But this is more than a surprise. He shocked people. It really makes you think about how many guys might be out there who can play but never get an opportunity."
Maybe Colangelo is just afraid of having the squad called the U.S. O-Lin-pic team.
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