体坛英语新闻：Lin's underdog story inspires the world

BEIJING, Feb. 28 (Xinhua) -- Although Jeremy Lin's sudden emergence came too late to make him an All-Star and he only played limited time in the Rising Star Challenge last Friday, he still managed a starring role and was not outshone by any big guys.

The NBA even gave the Asian-American his own press conference which was usually only afforded to Commissioner David Stern.

However, about three weeks ago, the 1.91-meter-tall player had been struggling to have a stable contract with the New York Knicks and had to sleep on a teammate's couch when his brother's place wasn't available.

Unlike former Chinese player Yao Ming who was the Rockets' top pick in the 2002 draft, Lin was undrafted out of Harvard and was cut by two clubs late last year before he caught on with the Knicks, signing two days after Christmas.

He saw limited action in his first nine appearances in New York, averaging just six minutes a game.

The night before he scored 25 points off the bench against New Jersey, Lin had slept on teammate Landry Fields' couch and refused to get his own place as he headed into the week the Knicks would have to decide whether to cut him or keep him for the rest of the season.

But after that match Lin really found his pace, scoring 28 against Utah, 23 against Washington and going off for 38 points against Kobe Bryant's Lakers and the legend was born as the Knicks won nine of 10 games with Lin leading the charge