Just a few months after being cut from both Golden State and Houston, Jeremy Lin can now sit easily amongst people like Rihanna, Tim Tebow, Chelsea Handler and Barack Obama. TIME released their annual list of the 100 most influential people in the world, describing them as “the people who inspire us, entertain us, challenge us and change our world. Meet the breakouts, pioneers, moguls, leaders and icons who make up this year’s TIME 100.” Jeremy Lin, the injured New York sensation, is one of them.
New York’s adopted son joins Lionel Messi, Novak Djokovic, Oscar Pistorius, Tim Tebow and Yani Tseng as the only athletes honored on this list.
Arne Duncan, the U.S. Secretary of Education, writes for TIME:
It’s great to see good values rewarded in professional sports because that’s not always the case. Often it’s the bling, the glam, the individual that gets celebrated — not the team and working together to advance a goal bigger than oneself. Jeremy cares only about one thing — winning. And I don’t care whether you are an Asian-American kid, white, black or Hispanic, Jeremy’s story tells you that if you show grit, discipline and integrity, you too can get an opportunity to overcome the odds.
Linsanity, at least in NBA circles, has been flushed out due to his injury and the up-and-down nature of New York’s season. But while we may think of him as old news to a degree, the rest of the world apparently doesn’t.
Would you include him on this list?
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