HBO wrote the book on sports documentaries before giving way to ESPN’s prolific “30 for 30” franchise.
It’s good to see HBO back at it with “38 At The Garden,” a new documentary chronicling the “Linsanity” craze of a decade ago.
Directed by Frank Chi, the short doc will premiere Tuesday, Oct. 11 (9-9:40 p.m. ET) on HBO and be available to stream on HBO Max.
At the beginning of the NBA’s 2011-12 season, Jeremy Lin was an undrafted point guard out of Harvard who’d kicked around the league.
By the end of the season, the New York Knicks’ waiver-wire pickup was on the covers of Sports Illustrated and Time — and an inspiration to millions as the first American of Chinese or Taiwanese descent to play in the NBA.
The Bay Area native started the season as a backup. But he got his chance with the Knicks on Feb. 4, 2012, dropping 25 points on the New Jersey Nets.
The fire for Linsanity was lit. Knicks fans scrambled to watch his games and buy anything and everything with Lin’s No. 17 on it.
The overnight sensation topped his previous heroics by memorably outdueling Kobe Bryant at Madison Square Garden on Feb. 10.
Lin scored a career-high 38 points as he led the Knicks to an upset win over the Los Angeles Lakers.
But it fell apart nearly as quickly. Lin got injured. The Knicks declined to re-up his contract for the 2012-2013 season. He went on to play for half a dozen teams (winning an NBA title with the Toronto Raptors). But the journeyman never recaptured the form that ignited his magical Knicks run.
“38 At The Garden” is executive produced by journalist Lisa Ling. The new doc will feature an interview with the now-34-year-old Lin along with former Knicks teammates Tyson Chandler and Iman Shumpert.
