Knicks held off announcing Lin's injury until NBA playoff ticket deadline

The New York Knicks were so worried about not being able to promote their injured cash cow Jeremy Lin for the playoffs, they waited two days — until after the deadline for season-ticket holders to buy tickets for the playoffs had passed— to reveal the severity of his knee injury, according to the New York Daily News.

Last Monday, the Knicks sent an email— with a picture of Lin jumping in celebration— to subscribers.  Yet,  it was two days before the deadline (Wed., March 28) when Lin and the medical staff had learned that the second-year point guard was suffering from a torn meniscus in his left knee and that he would not be returning anytime soon.


Although Lin waited until Saturday before formally making the decision to have surgery, it certainly made business sense for the Knicks organization to withhold medical information about its Linsanity star.  But that doesn't explain why the Knicks, who are 2 1/2 games ahead of Milwaukee for the eighth and final playoff spot with 13 games left, weren't forthcoming about Lin's condition after Wednesday's postseason ticket deadline passed.

The Knicks had no exp-Lin-ation for the delay.

Nor did it explain why the Knicks contradicted interim-head coach Mike Woodson— who first had raised the possibility of Lin's "sore" knee being more serious than a two or three game re-hab and that the injury actually could sideline him for the rest of the regular season.

It's not every day that an organization goes out of its way to refute something the head coach says— when in fact, Woodson was just being truthful.  On Friday in Atlanta, Woodson told reporters that he didn't know "when" or "if" Lin would return to the lineup.  Within one hour, the Knicks media relations staff released a statement to select media outlets contradicting Woodson.

In the Knicks favor, Lin hadn't decided to go ahead with the surgery, so there was a chance he could have played in Indiana on Tuesday or in Orlando on Thursday.  However, an MRI taken four days earlier had already shown the knee was more than just "sore"— it was damaged.  Lin was already leaning towards getting arthroscopic surgery.

Woodson was only giving fans and reporters a truthful assessment of Lin's injury in his opinion.

It's a wonder that the truthful and unflappable Lin didn't spill the beans before the deadline passed.

Lin is looking at missing up to six weeks of game time after surgery— which could possibly have him suiting up by the second round of the playoffs— if the Knicks get that far.

Woodson is behind Lin's decision but wasn't sure if his point guard would postpone his surgery until after the season.  "Only he knows his body," said Woodson.

Lin is optimistic but claims he never had surgery before.

"I'm a fast healer," he said.