After two seasons in the NBA, after averaging 14.6 points a game, after getting paid $600,000 this past season…Jeremy Lin signed a $25 million dollar over three-year contract with the Houston Rockets.

$25 million of dollars for a player who had played for three separate teams and only played in 64 career games in two years in the league.  Whom, prior to this season, averaged 2.9 points a season and is now playing for the team that cut him this past preseason after seven minutes worth of play.

Does he deserve the big bucks after one season?

Yes and no.

He came out of nowhere the second half of this past basketball season and had caught on fire on the right time to be noticed as his contract was running up.  Lin had average a double-double in a fifth of the games he played in (five in 35 games this season), to one DQ/Foul-out.  He deserves a medium-range contract worth of several million dollars (maybe in the range of $5-$8) until he proves himself worthy of a double digit contract.

He’s similar to Steve Nash.  Both have an high IQ, took a while to grow into their shot and groove, and it took a while for them to work into the starting lineup.

But, however, we’ve seen this before.  Athlete’s who have posted one or two solid seasons before fading out into a early retirement.  One season does not give someone the promise of s Steve Nash or a Adrian Peterson.  Look at these flash in the pan athletes:

Buster Douglas.  The man who defeat the once thought unbeatable Mike Tyson.  After defeating “Iron Mike”, he lost in his first title defense and never recovered back to his once luster promise.

Icky Woods.  His rookie season leaned young Elbert “Icky” Woods towards a promising career after rushing for 1,066 yards and 15 touchdowns.  He went as far as creating the infamous “Icky Shuffle” But after the 1988 Super Bowl run, he barely rushed for 400 yards (459 yards to be exact) and 12 touchdowns in the next three seasons.

Jim Carey (not the actor).  Once looked at as the next big deal as goalie in the National Hockey League.  After being called up his rookie season by the Washington Capitals in 1995, he went 18-6-3 with a save percentage of 0.913, with another decent season in 1995-1996 going 35-24-9 with a save percentage of 0.906.  But he struggled in 1996 and never recovered, going 26-35-4 with a significant lower saves percentage.

This is not to say the Jeremy Lin would become a victim of the “Flash in the pan” trend.  But it has been seen that once either money or a title (or the combination of the two) has been placed on someone; the pressure and expectations rise significantly.

That’s why we don’t see franchises running to the bank anymore with athletes like a Chris Johnson or a Dwight Howard (in the aspect of the long-term contract), because we see that in the past, players don’t live up to the hype and expectations.

In my opinion, I think Lin is on the upside and could become the next “Steve Nash” if can stay fit and don’t crumble to the pressure of this $25 million dollar over three year contract.  If he plays to his strengths as he did this past season and keep his level head, he can be a good and solid player in the league.

source:

http://espn.go.com/nba/player/_/id/4299/jeremy-lin

http://www.pro-football-reference.com/players/W/WoodIc00.htm

http://www.hockeydb.com/ihdb/stats/pdisplay.php?pid=13060

http://www.sportspickle.com/opinion/9984/the-10-biggest-flash-in-the-pan-athletes-in-sports-history