ANOTHER PLACE: Mike D’Antoni and Jeremy Lin, who together choreographed “Linsanity” with the Knicks last season, will see each other again tonight, as D’Antoni makes his debut as coach of the Lakers and Lin visits with the Rockets. (AP, NBAE/Getty Images)
ANOTHER PLACE: Mike D’Antoni and Jeremy Lin (above), who together choreographed “Linsanity” with the Knicks last season, will see each other again tonight, as D’Antoni makes his debut as coach of the Lakers and Lin visits with the Rockets. (AP, NBAE/Getty Images)
EL SEGUNDO, Calif. — One night last February, the Lakers had a game to play, but they had the end of another game to watch first. And when the ending came amid a staggering run that became an international sensation, Metta World Peace exploded from the Lakers’ players lounge at Staples Center, uttering one word.
“Linsanity.”
Jeremy Lin, who visits Staples Center tonight in Los Angeles with the Rockets to face his former boss, Mike D’Antoni, provided World Peace and the Lakers with an indelible memory that night last season when he stuck a last-second 3-pointer for the Knicks to beat Toronto. But for a longer stretch, Lin, who this week said D’Antoni “changed my career … changed my life,” provided a mountain of memories for his former coach.
“He changed my life, too, so it works both ways,” said D’Antoni, who, barring complications from his recent knee replacement surgery, intends to make his coaching debut for the Lakers tonight against Lin and Houston. “He’s a great kid. I only wish him the best and all, but he did it. He persevered and he stayed in there and he worked out so hard. … So it’s awful nice for him to say, but it doesn’t happen without him. He did a terrific job.”
Lin left the Knicks over the summer for a three-year, $25 million deal in Houston, and the “what if” game will continue forever. For a time in New York last season, every possible pun with the letters “Lin” was employed on the back — and front — pages of the newspapers. Jeremy Lin became a story without equal.
“The biggest thing it meant to me is that it leaves me with an unbelievable memory of two weeks that were incredible,” D’Antoni said. “I don’t care what sport, what walk of life — to be able to experience that and feel the bond with the guys that were doing it and the media, everything, it was off the charts. So it’s a great, great memory. … I always go forward but we all live on memories and that’s a big one.”
But Lin didn’t just give D’Antoni happy flashbacks. He helped D’Antoni’s confidence level, the coach admitted.
“You waver, no matter. You take some hits and you start doubting some things,” D’Antoni said. “Jeremy put everything back in order, and it makes me go forward.”
Lin drew the ire of Knicks teammates, notably Carmelo Anthony, who called the offer sheet from Houston “ridiculous,” and J.R. Smith, who claimed other players would be jealous of such a deal. Lin, who was not available yesterday because the Rockets canceled practice, explained to The Houston Chronicle this week how much he owes D’Antoni.
“He gave me confidence in running the offense,” Lin told the paper. “He’s a coach that empowers his players. He gives his players the confidence and freedom to go out and play to the best of their abilities.”
Ask the Lakers, and they’ll tell you there has to be something there to start with, and Lin has the talent to thrive. It’s not just being a strictly right-place, right-time guy.
“It’s unfair to Jeremy to say he’s really good in Mike’s offense,” said two-time MVP Steve Nash, who will miss at least another week with the Lakers as his leg fracture heals. “There are a lot of great point guards, and coaches aren’t dumb. They’re not going to limit guys who can get in the middle and create problems for defenses.
“When you look around the league, he’d fit into a lot of places. He was great in Mike’s offense, but he’d be good in a lot of offenses.”
Maybe Lin never will experience that stunning stretch of last season. But for that time, he was the story in New York. And for one night, L.A., too.
“It wasn’t just me. Everybody was riding the wave,” World Peace said of Linsanity. “We were happy for him. We had our warm-ups on and everybody was staying watching the game … So to see him make it, that was amazing. He’s a good player. He’s an international star. It’s only right. He was something new. ”
* Dwight Howard reiterated he had wanted to go to Brooklyn last year during his “Dwightmare” before coming to L.A. via a summer trade. “There were two places I wanted to go to and I’m here, one of them, and I’m happy.” He called the Nets a “very” intriguing option. “I made it clear they were an option … Brooklyn, new team, going to a new city a place I could start fresh. Here in L.A. I have the same opportunities,” he said. But Houston also made a play. Had he been traded there, “I would have went there and played.”