Jeremy Lin Has Done More Than Lift the Knicks With bad news abounding - Greece's agony, Syria's unraveling, Whitney Houston's death, and that's just for starters - Jeremy Lin has come along to put a smile on every face from Woodlawn to Far Rockaway. How could you not feel good? This is one of those you-can't-make-this-stuff-up stories. A kid comes out of nowhere, hops off the bench, and the next thing you know, he's led the struggling New York Knicks to five straight victories, an achievement that a mere 10 days ago seemed possible only if God had no other distractions crying for attention. Mr. Lin, previously unheralded and lightly regarded - if regarded at all - has racked up record point totals for a newcomer while helping his teammates score repeatedly. But there's more at work here than a few basketball triumphs, or otherwise the Lin phenomenon would have been left to the sports pages. For starters, Mr. Lin, 23, is the son of immigrants from Taiwan who built a new life in California. Asian-Americans are almost as unheard of in the National Basketball Association as Jews are in the highest reaches of the Vatican. (We say "almost" because Cardinal Jean-Marie Lustiger of France, who died in 2007, was born Jewish and, he said, "so I remain." There was even speculation for a while that he might become pope. Asked about that possibility by a Jewish friend, the cardinal replied, "From your mouth to God's ear." He said it in Yiddish.) Naturally, Asian-Americans, especially those with Chinese roots, have taken enormous pride in this young man. But he really could serve as a model for any group that is under-represented in a major endeavor and is essentially told it doesn't stand a chance. What was it that Shakespeare said in "Hamlet" about there being more things in heaven and earth than might be dreamed of? Beyond that, there is the likability factor. Mr. Lin is said to be a devout Christian. But he has displayed none of the "look at me" showboating of Tim Tebow, the Denver Broncos quarterback, who is endlessly on bended knee in public to demonstrate his piety. As my colleague Michael Luo said in an interesting essay on Sunday, "Lin comes across as soft-spoken and winsome; he comes across as thoughtful. And he's from Harvard! That university has produced more men who have lived in the White House than have played in the N.B.A. You can add to the mix a distinctly New York touch: He's not been making much money - not yet, anyway - and so he has been forced to sleep on couches at his brother's place and at a teammate's. To perform his heroics, Mr. Lin has hopped off the sofa as well the bench. But before we get carried away, perhaps we should all take a few deep breaths, especially those in my line of work who subscribe to the philosophy that anything worth doing is worth overdoing. At some point, we are bound to run out of ways to turn that punchy family name into groan-worthy configurations. "Linstant Replay" read the back page of one New York tabloid on Monday. "Lin & Bear It!" screamed another. Articles and headlines are filled with talk of "Linsanity" and of how "Lincredible" the man has been. There has been a Linstant Linclination to practically Linstall him in the Hall of Fame, and the seemingly Linexhaustible Linundation of wordplays already borders on the Linsipid. Besides, any hagiography may be Linordinately premature. Those of us old enough to remember a pitcher named Bo Belinsky can recall how he burst like a comet across the baseball firmament in 1962, winning his first few games and even throwing a no-hitter. Mr. Belinsky flamed out soon enough. Much more recently, Joba Chamberlain joined the Yankees with garlands tossed at him as if he were Caesar after the conquest of Gaul. Mr. Chamberlain's later performances often proved more worthy of comparisons to Sid Caesar than to Julius. But let's leave the crepe-hanging at that. Mr. Lin has unquestionably been the brighten-your-day story of this still-young year. It's enough to start one thinking about sleeping on the couch, too, if that's what it takes to keep hitting jump shots.