Filed Under » New York Knicks

The New York Knicks have won back-to-back games for the first time in a month thanks to the surprisingly stellar play of point guard Jeremy Lin.

"I know this may sound stereotypical," said Knicks head coach Mike D'Antoni, "but there aren't many good athletes named 'Jeremy'. I think he's probably had to fight that perception his whole career. But now he's turning a lot of heads."

Despite a dominant high school career in California that saw him make All-State as a senior and win several player of the year awards, Lin was barely recruited and ended up playing basketball at Harvard – far from a traditional basketball power. After a standout career at Harvard, Lin went undrafted by the NBA. Many told him to stick to intramural sports or, at the most, try out for the swimming or lacrosse team.

"That was disappointing to me," says Lin. "I felt I was as good as any other high school player in the nation and, four years later, to not get drafted? It really showed me that even in modern day America, there are roadblocks in sports for people named 'Jeremy.'"

New York Knicks forward Carmelo Anthony is reportedly meeting with close associates and team officials to put the finishing touches on plans for a press conference in which he will admit that he is not a superstar.

"Carmelo has been fighting with this for a long time," said a Knicks team official. "It's not that he doesn't want to be on the level of guys like Kobe and Lebron. He does. Unfortunately, even though he has a cool, unique name like those guys, he's not nearly as good as them. And it's hard to live and perform under the expectations that he is."

Anthony's arrival in New York via a blockbuster trade with the Denver Nuggets last season only increased the pressure to perform on a player who won an NCAA title as a freshman and was selected No. 3 overall in 2003 between Lebron James at No. 1 and Dwyane Wade at No. 5.

"Why can't people just think of Carmelo as a good player?" said a close friend of Anthony's. "Like: 'Boy, that Carmelo is pretty good,' instead of 'Carmelo sure isn't living up to expectations' or 'that Carmelo is the shittiest superstar ever.' That stuff hurts."

Despite high expectations in New York, Anthony's Knicks are only 7-11 while his former Nuggets team has greatly improved without him and has the second-best record in the Western Conference.

"I have nothing but positive things to say about Carmelo," said Nuggets head coach George Karl. "He would be a great piece here. Just imagine how great he would be to bring off the bench as a scoring threat. He'd be the superstar of sixth men."