Even though Jeremy Lin is probably too nice of a guy to have a revenge list saved on his cell phone, sometimes wishing a player goes down a path that’s a bit more sinister, filled with wrath towards those who wronged him, kind of like Arya Stark on Game of Thrones / A Song of Ice and Fire.
For Arya (my 2nd favorite character in the books), it’s a kill list of people who have wronged her, her family and her friends (different list in the books and in the show). The world of Westeros is brutal. Murder, rape, torture, you know the drill. While the NBA can be a cutthroat kind of business, it’s just a saying. For Lin, if such a revenge-list ever did exist, it would simply be about proving certain people wrong, or maybe enjoying watching them fail, although I doubt Lin is like that.
I thought long and hard about Lin’s season on the Charlotte Hornets. While it had flavors of previous seasons (unappreciative head coach, orders from above to prefer the “face of the franchise”, ball dominant other guard), the situation was different. The team chemistry in Charlotte was good, and I think Clifford did appreciate Lin, only it clashed with the front office wanting to push Walker in everyone’s face. Clifford’s mistakes have less to do with wanting to hurt Lin, and more with his ineptitude as a coach. If he’s let some of those inhibitions go, the Hornets would probably be playing in the conference semifinal.
And what about Kobe Bryant? See the Harden bullet, and multiply it by a thousand. Bryant was going to make it difficult on anyone playing next to him. These last two years, he’s been in a mode of not giving a f*** about anything but himself. If Lakers front office and coaching staff had a pair, his retirement years would look like a veteran trying to pave the way for the next generation. Instead, it was a fading star trying to hold on as strong as he could to his golden years, and taking down the ship with him in the process. Lin didn’t enjoy playing next to Bryant, but it’s not Kobe’s fault that Lin had a rough year in Los Angeles.
Yep. Arya Stark, or Mercy, or Cat of the Canals, won’t get to cross everyone off her list, but she prefers doing that than being a Faceless Man. There’s no real good parallel to Lin’s career at this point. Maybe the fact that Lin is simply focused on making the most of the opportunity to Brooklyn Nets present to him, instead of dwelling of those who have wronged him in the past. Which is the exact opposite of Arya at this point.