( CNN ) -- The `` Linsanity '' surrounding the New York Knicks ' surprise phenom at point guard may be motivated by something bigger than sports . Yes , Jeremy Lin is a terrific athlete , whose almost accidental discovery by the Knicks and little-engine-that-could perseverance make for great radio commentary and pop cultural mythology . But there 's something deeper at play here : Lin is iconic of a new kind of hero for the 21st century . And he is not alone . Take Lin 's story by itself : A Harvard graduate and only occasional Ivy League basketball star , Lin struggles to get recognized in the NBA . He is picked up by the Golden State Warriors only to be released . Then , plagued by player injuries and in need of an extra backup point guard , the Knicks pick up Lin as a temp backup , only to dump him back in the D-league when they think they do n't need him . After a string of losses , they bring him back on board more for the hell of it than anything else , and Lin lights a fire under the team , leading it to a run of dramatic victories . Still , Lin is not a superstar in the modern NBA slam-dunk sense . He can drive to the basket and make clutch plays , but the key to Lin 's success is his ability to make the rest of his team work -- well , like a team . The economics major is a cool intellectual , who looks at his colleagues as part of a system . His talent is being able to keep them and the ball moving , and to find the open man -- whoever it might be , even himself . This style of play evokes earlier eras of the sport , where teamwork mattered more than individual performance . Yet it also evokes the spirit of our current era -- one in which networks and connections are coming to matter more than individual skill or personal gain . Another view : Jeremy Lin 's race is a factor . Consider another Harvard alum in the headlines these days , Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg . He came up with his social networking platform in his dorm room , with little more ambition than to create a new way for his college friends to connect to one another . And with a combination of perseverance and bit of luck , he ended up in the right place at the right time . Unlike the charismatic CEOs of the industrial age , Zuckerberg is a rather unassuming , quick-to-gaffe computer programmer whose entire premise -- his entire business -- is based on his ability to keep other people networking . At his best , he is a mere facilitator . Likewise , Harvard Law alum Barack Obama came out of nowhere . A state senator gets picked to keynote a Democratic convention , and then somehow flips his huge success at that into a winning presidential campaign . His rise to viability , remember , depended on the strength of his Internet fundraising , and his ability to organize new networks of people around his candidacy through tools like Meetup and Facebook . And again , it 's a cool , plainspoken facilitator at the helm : so cool and deliberative that he infuriates even some of his allies , but a strategist whose deeper instincts about playing the political game are only now coming to light . These are not the kind of people we traditionally think of as heroes in sports , technology , and politics . Compare Jeremy Lin , Mark Zuckerberg , and Barack Obama to , say , Michael Jordan , Steve Jobs , and Bill Clinton . Jordan , Jobs , and Clinton were stars in their own right . Their campaigns and their victories were about themselves . It was Jordan who made the dunks , Jobs who showed us the iPhone , and Clinton who made his presidency about himself . Lin , Zuckerberg , and Obama , on the other hand , are rather underwhelming as tribal leaders . They are leaders of the Net generation , who owe their power to the networks they can catalyze . That 's why the extent to which these three succeed will be based on their ability to keep the story from being about themselves . Jeremy Lin 's biggest problem right now is his superstardom , and the fact that fan focus and adulation could make it harder for him to keep his senior , star teammates from getting jealous and uncooperative . Or worse , they could convince Lin that he really is all that people wish for him to be . Likewise , Zuckerberg 's greatest liability is the possibility that the people actually energizing Facebook -- those of us who use it to connect -- begin to suspect that his company and shareholders matter more than us . Once it feels like we 're creating more value for him than he is for us , we 're out . And finally , Obama 's success -- and chances for a second term -- may depend on his ability both to keep the ball moving , and keep his adversaries from casting that dependence on teamwork as some form of European socialism . Remember , Obama did not tell us that he was the one we were waiting for , but rather that we are the ones we have been waiting for . This is 21st century leadership , writ large . Whether we , the president , the Internet or even our sports industry are up the challenge is the real question posed by the rise of a kid named Lin . Follow CNN Opinion on Twitter . Join the conversation on Facebook . The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Douglas Rushkoff .
Douglas Rushkoff says Jeremy Lin is iconic of a new kind of hero for the 21st century . Lin , Mark Zuckerberg and Barack Obama are cool , strategic facilitators , he says . He says they must keep the ball moving and keep the story from being about themselves . Rushkoff : Obama must avoid having teamwork approach cast by others as socialism .