Jeremy Lin, with his outstanding performance in the NBA games this year and his healthy personal image, has gained much fame. Internationally and locally (in China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan), his name has been on Google's annual list of the most widely searched keywords. The power of "the Lin craze" is evident.
In December, Google announced the list of the world's most widely searched keywords (Zeitgeist). In the category of world's "athletes", Jeremy Lin surpassed Michael Phelps (nicknamed the American flying fish) and Peyton Manning (the American football quarterback of the Denver Broncos) to come first in the list. This list did not contain any other NBA players. In the category of world's "people", Jeremy Lin came 7th on the list.
In the Chinese search engines, within the mainland China regions, "Jeremy Lin" in simplified Chinese came first in both the "athletes" and "people" categories. He surpassed national elite Liu Xiang (nicknamed the "Fence King") and Olympic badminton champion Lin Dan under the "athletes" category. In the "people" category, Lin Dan and Nobel literature prize winner Mo Yan came second and third, respectively.
Jeremy Lin, with numerous Taiwanese fans, also was listed in the first and second places in the "athletes" and "people" categories respectively in the Taiwanese regional Google searches. As for the Hong Kong region, Jeremy Lin came second in the "people" category, second only to South Korean one-hit singer Psy (with the famed dance and song of "Gangnam style"). He still came first in the "athletes" category, however.
The 23-year-old Jeremy Lin aimed to join the NBA since high school, and once he got in, he was seated on the cold bench for a long time. By performing extremely well in the previous season, playing for the New York Knicks, he gained fame almost overnight. The most memorable thing about him is that being a Christian, he has never been proud of his achievements. Every time he wins, he gives glory to God. In many of his interviews globally, he bravely testifies to what God has done on him. Beside the successes and failures of his life, he focuses on "playing ball for God". Until this day, he has been sharing his testimony in many large-scale Christian gatherings in Taiwan and Hong Kong, and has brought much positive influence to many youths.
[Editor's note: Carol Lee translated the article.]
