The Final Horne: Is Jeremy Lin Sanity fever going to be cured by return of Carmelo Anthony?

Clarksville, TN – You love him. I love him.

We all love the story of Knicks sensation and point guard Jeremy Lin, the almost three-time NBA cast-offed, undrafted and two-time Ivy Leaguer from Harvard.

The Palo Alto, California, native is the All-American story: Down to his last chance, Lin excelled and exceeded expectations and did has done it all for the team on the biggest stage in the city of 8 million stories, the grand land, ‘if you can make it there you can make it any where’, New York City.

It also does matter that he’s an Asian-American, but only because it’s another example that shows that race doesn’t matter, anyone can do or be anything — it goes both ways, but luckily this is a feel-good story.

Lin, who was living on his brother’s couch, has been as humble as pie and not wilted or cracked under the intense spot like that is the Gotham media. He’s taken it all in stride and actually charmed us with his easy demeanor and oft-putting ‘I’m just playing  game’ charm. Believe it or not there are more athletes out there who are like that, but we do seem to concentrate on the loudmouths, although it’s the squeaky wheel that gets the grease.

And as refreshing and fun as the Lin story is, he’s about to hit some hard cold reality and might bristle under the light that is Carmelo Anthony. And if Lin does, he won’t be the first. Amare Stoudemire is more of a dwarf star now that he rotates around Plant Melo.

It’s not that Melo won’t be able to play with Lin, Melo can play with anymore.

It’s just that Melo can’t be a star with anyone else.

I give Melo credit for playing his role on the USA Basketball Team, but there because of Kobe, Dwight, Durant, D-Wade and CP3, he knows where he sits on the pecking order.

But Melo wants to be the man and give him credit he played the game right to get to be that for the Knicks b getting traded from the Nuggets.

But it’s not out of pure self-centerness, but it is because Mel is egocentric enough to think he can lead a team to a NBA Championship.

And I don’t fault him for that. You have to be confident if yourself, because most of the time most people really won’t be for you. It’s just that so far Melo hasn’t displayed the attributes you need to win a championship, that steeliness, the stone cold chutzpah that Kobe, Michael, Magic, Larry, the Detroit Pistons, and even Tim Duncan, showed they had in winning multiple championships.

So Melo is going to dim the light that is Lin.

But if Melo realizes like Mike did and like Kobe did, that it takes a team to win, something — Magic, Larry, the Pistons and Timmy-D already knew — then he’d fine, that he, Lin, Amare and the rest of the Knicks could all shine brightly in a place big enough for champions.