Anyone who watched professional basketball back in 2012 has heard of Jeremy Lin, or at least recognizes the name. Lin rose to a superstar standing in his break-out year with the New York Knicks in 2012. While that year brought many awards, his route to success was anything but easy.

In the documentary, Linsanity, produced in 2013, tales of the legendary Jeremy Lin are told and his story is shared with the public for the first time. This documentary shows the hard work, determination, struggles, and triumph associated with Lin’s rise to fame. Since Lin is a man of deep Christian faith, this documentary touches on how his faith was tested and ultimately how it kept him strong throughout his challenging career as an aspiring NBA basketball player.

“When I was going through all of my insecurities, and uncertainty, and lack of confidence, I was losing focus on God. I was focusing on my job and on what other people thought of me,” said Lin in the documentary. “Over time, I think God did something supernatural to me, something that I couldn’t do on my own.”

The documentary tells of how Lin grew his game at Harvard University and stood out there as a star. When he entered the NBA draft out of college, he had high hopes for getting picked up by a team, but those hopes dwindled as Lin never heard his name called in the 2010 NBA draft. The warriors, however, soon picked him up, leading to a long road for Lin in the NBA “G” league where he had to prove himself to get a start. The documentary does a great job at portraying Lin’s faith here, as he battled through a difficult road of getting called up and getting called back down to the “G” league for a few years.

“The thing I had to learn was that the perfect plan doesn’t mean it’ll end up the way you want it to end up. If I become a better person through the tough times, that’s part of this perfect plan and part of this perfect will,” said Lin.

As Lin was battling through the hard days, the producers of the documentary showed the rollercoaster of emotions that Lin went through, but focused on Lin’s calm attitude as he stayed positive and confident in his future as an NBA starter. However, Lin never expected what was about to happen to him when he got picked up by the New York Knicks in 2012 after playing two years in the NBA “G” league.

When Lin started for the first time with the New York Knicks, he got off to an unbelievable start, dropping three-pointers and jump shots like he was an NBA veteran. After several incredible performances with the Knicks, people started coining the phrase “Linsanity”, a phrase used to describe Jeremy Lin’s out-of-this-world shooting in his first few games as an NBA star. Even despite all the quick fame and glory, Lin never wavered from his Christian background and he talks a lot about how he still doesn’t believe what happened to him.

“I’m just out there having fun and playing a game. What happened to me is just a story, and some of those experiences out there when I was on the court, I felt like I was being controlled by something else,” said Lin. “Some of the plays I made and wins we had were just so out of this world that I still have to pinch myself to really believe it.”

Jeremy Lin is a testament to what a true, hard-working professional athlete fights through to achieve their dreams. Lin was confident, motivated, focused, and calm throughout his entire journey in making it to the NBA, and he held strong in his faith through it all. Linsanity does an incredible job portraying all the hardships, both mentally and physically, that Lin had to face to reach his goal, and it’s worth the watch to gain some motivation and determination for every athlete out there.