The HBO documentary “38 at the Garden” chronicles former NBA player Jeremy Lin’s meteoric rise to fame in February 2012 after he scored 38 points against Kobe Bryant and the Lakers at Madison Square Garden.
It was the fourth game in a 10-game hot streak that saw the New York Knicks point guard go from bench player to leading scorer. Lin nabbed the covers of Time and Sports Illustrated, was named Breakthrough Athlete of the Year at the ESPY Awards, and won the adoration of millions. The overwhelming public and media attention was dubbed “Linsanity” — and at its very center was a 23-year-old Asian American kid who just wanted to put out his best game.
“I had this love/hate, but primarily hate, relationship with Linsanity for quite a few years,” Lin said at a recent FYC event for “38 at the Garden,” which is on the Oscars shortlist for Documentary Short Film. “Because of the things that happened off the court, many times, [pitches] would be like, ‘Oh, do you want to talk about Linsanity?’ I’d be like, ‘I’m not even taking a meeting. Immediate no, thank you.”n
(Editors note: Lin did participate in a feature-length documentary named “Linsanity” in 2013, the year after his big breakout.)
When asked to elaborate by moderator Scott Fienberg, Lin revealed the dark side to sudden fame. “I had the craziest, creepiest, scariest things happening to me and my family,” the now 34-year-old recalled. “People I trusted were trying to monetize off me and steal off me. Like, people that I grew up with.”
“All of a sudden there’s paparazzi and everyone has something to say. Anything you do, you get critiqued for,” Lin continued. “I’m just more of a sensitive soul. If I have 100 people and 99 fans say something good and one fan says something bad, I’ll remember the bad thing. So I had to grow up, too. A lot of it was my own development that needed to happen.”
“And it didn’t matter how well I played, I would never be able to live up to how big the shadow would that Linsanity cast over me and my career. And that’s why I ran from it,” he explained.
Lin’s later years in the NBA were plagued by injuries, and eventually he ended up playing for the Beijing Ducks (part of the Chinese Basketball Association) in 2019. Then, in 2020, his career — like so many others — waS put on hold due to the coronavirus pandemic in 2020.
“We were on Chinese New Year break when COVID first even happened and [the CBA] we’re gonna postpone the season for days. And then all of a sudden, it was like, just go home indefinitely,” Lin recalled. “So I go home — home being Palo Alto in the Bay Area — and that’s when I realized everything was different. And fast forward a little bit more time. All of a sudden, I have friends and family members who are scared to go to the grocery store. Me and my friends are like, ‘Do we let her parents just kind of walk around? Or do we always try to be there for them and accompany them? Like, do we let them go to the grocery store themselves?’ And that’s when I was like, it’s getting pretty scary.” (Editors note: In the first year of COVID, 3,800 incidents of anti-Asian hate were reported to Stop AAPI Hate, a reporting center that tracks hate, violence, harassment and discrimination targeting Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders.)
Patricia Sun, who runs Lin’s off-court company (and would later become an executive producer on “38 at the Garden”) urged Lin to take a call from the filmmakers who included writer/director Frank Chi.
Lin explained what felt different about all the previous pitches. “After we took the call, the one thing that we’re all in agreement on was, this is not going to be some nostalgic [piece] where we’re just going to relive that Linsanity and talk about how cool the game was. It’s much, much bigger than just that. And that’s when I was like I actually really want to do this — and I never want to do anything related to Linsanity for the previous 10 years, or at that time, eight years.”
“We’re going to trim all the fat off of this,” Chi said at the event about structuring his story. “We’re going to break it down in three parts, and this is how I describe ’38 at the Garden without any basketball whatsoever. Part One is about stereotypes. Part Two is about what happens when somebody shatters those stereotypes without nobody expecting it. And then Part Three is what today when those stereotypes have been weaponized. And when they’re weaponized, they turn into Asian violence.”
The 38-minute documentary accomplishes just that, showing how the son of Taiwanese immigrants shattered stereotypes about Asian men to dominate against the league’s best. And how, despite his unbelievable success story — the epitome of the American dream — Asian Americans are, a decade later, still subject vilified as the perpetual foreigner, and in recent years, physically attacked by misguided notions that they are responsible for the pandemic.
Lin revealed that he became emotional at the documentary’s first screening, ironically in New York City, the site of his historic night. “It was incredible. because I felt like the whole spectrum of emotions from joy and excitement to pride [from] all the different things from the basketball side and success side,” he recalled.
“I’ve never cried watching anything,” he continued. “The closest to crying was when I saw the little girl [being interviewed at the height of Asian hate] saying, ‘I basically want I don’t want people to see my skin color.’ Like she’s still young. And she is already so aware of and ashamed of that. And I’m like, ‘Man, I don’t have kids. But like, if that was my child, like, what would that do to me at the parent.’”
Ultimately, Lin believes he might be the greatest beneficiary from “38 at the Garden,” because he is able to reframe “Linsanity” after all these years.
“Oftentimes, I go into philanthropic events thinking that I’m going to go impact or help somebody else,” Lin explained. “I see how these seven-year-olds, 10-year-olds, how much they enjoy life and basic things. I’m learning from them, like more than they’re learning from me. And with this film, you know, I came in trying to be like, ‘Okay, this is about the community.’ But the community gave back to me and I’m seeing in a different way.”
You can watch the entire “38 at the Garden” event with Jeremy Lin, Frank Chi, producers Travon Free and Samir Hernandez here. “38 at the Garden” is currently streaming on HBO Max as is on the 95th Oscars Shortlist.
Watch the trailer below: