The Roy Hobbs Effect

"You've made a great contribution. The stands have been constantly filled. Financial fortunes have been radically reversed since you joined the ball club." -The Judge in The Natural

The Judge was speaking to Roy Hobbs when he uttered those words, but that might as well have been a real conversation between Knicks owner James Dolan and point guard Jeremy Lin. Since "Linsanity" began sweeping the nation, New York has won five in a row, the stock price of Madison Square Garden Co. has never been higher, the Knicks are a red hot ticket again, TV ratings are up, and Lin jersey sales are number-1 in the NBA.

Pop Fisher: "Batting practice tomorrow, be there!"

Roy Hobbs: "I have been. Every day."

Like the fictional Hobbs character, Lin was collecting dust on the bench. In 13 of his first 22-games with the Knicks, he didn't play a minute. Lin was a 4th string point guard on a team going nowhere...An afterthought behind Iman Shumpert, Toney Douglas and Mike Bibby. It took injuries, nobody died like Bump Bailey, and ineffective play for Lin to get an opportunity. And he's done everything but knock the cover off the ball since then. Lin's 109-points scored are the most by any player in their first 4-starts in NBA history. He's outplayed Deron Williams, John Wall and Ricky Rubio during the Knicks 5-game winning streak, and outscored Kobe Bryant 38 to 34 in New York's victory over the Lakers.

Pop Fisher: "All these years and you never played organized baseball?"

Roy Hobbs: "Well, I sort of got sidetracked."

There was no woman in black to sidetrack Lin's NBA career...It was more or less the league's decision makers. Harvard develops the intellectual elite, not professional basketball players. And with only Ivy League competition to judge him by, Lin went undrafted. He spent time with the Warriors, playing in 29-games before being released, and was also later cut by the Rockets. Even the Knicks didn't know what they had. The team sent him to the D-League earlier this year, and had Baron Davis gotten healthy, it's likely Lin would've been waived.

Dr. Knobb: "Losing is a disease."

The psychologist brought into help the New York Knights uses this line over and over again. And if the Knicks were infected, Lin has been the cure. Similar to Hobbs in the movie, he's gotten a team that was one of the league's biggest disappointments to believe they're going to win. His performance has elevated the play of those around him. He doesn't need lightning to strike the court or to fire a shot into the arena lights, Lin has become the real "Wonderboy." Now cue the theme music.