Jeremy Lin struggled in his first two games in a Los Angeles Lakers uniform, but 'Linsanity' finally gave their fans something to smile about during the weekend.
Lin, who was traded to the Lakers from the Houston Rockets during the offseason, had his best game as a Laker as he finished with 17 points on 53.8 percent shooting from the field to go along with nine assists and four rebounds.
Lin's performance did not go unnoticed as superstar guard Kobe Bryant praised his new backcourt partner for the way he asserted himself during their 118-111 loss to the LA Clippers on Friday night.
"You have to be able to assert yourself, especially on a team that I'm playing on -- especially on a team I'm playing on," Bryant said of Lin, who became the team's starting point guard after Steve Nash went down with season-ending back injury.
The 26-year-old superstar was seen waving off Bryant during one play. When asked about the play after the match, Bryant said that it is the kind of play that he is looking from their point guard.
"I don't want chumps, I don't want pushovers, and if you're a chump and a pushover, I will run over you," Bryant said. "It's important for him to have that toughness and to say, 'I believe in myself. I can step up, I can make these plays, I can perform.' I think that is very, very important."
Bryant said that getting waived off is not a new thing to him, saying that most of his teammates did that during their championship days, and he is hoping that Lin will continue to assert himself on the offensive end of the floor.
"That's exactly what he should do -- is be the point guard and orchestrate things and get us into sets and get us flowing, get us moving, be aggressive," Bryant said. "This is the blueprint for him and how to continue to play."
For his part, Lin, who averaged 12.5 points to go along with 4.1 assists and 2.6 rebounds last season, said that the words of encouragement from Bryant and coach Byron Scott is now making him comfortable orchestrating their offensive sets.
"I'm like every other human. I'm going to be more comfortable, I'm going to do more, when I feel empowered," Lin said.
