Imago
Apr 5, 2026; Dallas, Texas, USA; Los Angeles Lakers forward LeBron James (23) looks on during the game against the Dallas Mavericks at American Airlines Center. Mandatory Credit: Kevin Jairaj-Imagn Images
Imago
Apr 5, 2026; Dallas, Texas, USA; Los Angeles Lakers forward LeBron James (23) looks on during the game against the Dallas Mavericks at American Airlines Center. Mandatory Credit: Kevin Jairaj-Imagn Images
The debate over All-Star effort is nothing new, but a decade ago, the biggest star in the building wasn’t even an All-Star. An NBA insider’s recent story reveals how Jeremy Lin’s ‘Linsanity’ completely overshadowed LeBron James, Kobe Bryant, and Kevin Durant.
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The 2012 All Star Weekend in Orlando was veteran radio host, Justin Termine’s first All-Star assignment. And right away, he experienced the popularity that defied all logic. That weekend was at the prime of ‘Linsanity,’ the pop culture phenomenon led by Jeremy Lin’s breakout stardom.
This week on Termine Crashes Out, he reveals the unique madness of that weekend. “I get down there and it was actually harder to secure an interview with Jeremy Lin than LeBron James.” The plot twist: Jeremy Lin was not voted to the All-Star Game at all. During his ‘Linsanity’ run with the New York Knicks, he was added as a last-minute injury replacement to Team Shaq in the Rising Stars Challenge and competed in the Shooting Stars Competition that weekend. From the sounds of it, his late addition to the midseason event was a reporter’s dream and nightmare.
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Termine recalled that securing time with the New York Knicks’ breakout guard was far more grueling than sitting down with the league’s front man. “They give me LeBron James for about 10 minutes, 12 minutes. They gave me him so long I almost ran out of questions with LeBron. Nobody put any pressure like, ‘Hey, you got to wrap it up with LeBron, we need to move him on, he’s very busy, he’s a huge name.’ They just let me sit down there with him.”
My first ASG was in 2012 where it was much easier for me to get an interview with Lebron James than Jeremy Lin.
Subscribe on YoutTube to “Termine Crashes out” with the link in my bio for the full story. pic.twitter.com/TXQ90iSdUA
— Justin Termine (@TermineRadio) April 8, 2026
Termine had the opposite experience with Lin, who had become a sought-after elusive subject for the media because of his uncontrollable popularity. “They made me pick up a recorder, leave the set, walk with Jeremy Lin for about a minute and a half,” Termine described. “And as I’m walking, there are hundreds of people surrounding us. That’s how difficult it was to land an interview with Jeremy Lin at All-Star weekend. He was bigger than LeBron, David Stern, Kevin Durant.”
Ironically, this was a very dramatic All-Star Game and yet Linsanity stole the show with his laidback style.
Jeremy Lin didn’t even share the stage with LeBron James
The 2012 All-Star Game was one for the books. This was the famous game that Kobe Bryant confronted LeBron James for not taking the game-winning shot. It was also when Dwyane Wade left Kobe with a bloody nose on a hard foul (an incident D-Wade joked would ruin the ASG for future generations). Kevin Durant would win MVP after a 36-point masterclass. On his 14th All-Star appearance, Bryant would also surpass Michael Jordan as the leading scorer in All-Star history.
But this came much after Jeremy Lin dominated the headlines. About a month before the games, the sophomore guard had gone from an undrafted benchwarmer to an international icon. He led the Knicks to a seven-game winning streak and created a phenomenon that even ended the MSG networks dispute with Time Warner Cable. In his 12 starts before the All-Star break, Lin averaged 22.5 points and 8.7 assists per game, and New York had a 9–3 record.
He was a backup in the Rising Stars challenge but his pre-All-Star breakout got him upgraded to the main roster. However, all that sudden success, Mike D’Antoni building the offense around Jeremy Lin, and constant media attention left him drained.
As a result, Jeremy Lin voluntarily took a much smaller role in Team Shaq, only playing under 10 minutes. He instead used the All-Star Weekend to recover from his recent burst of fame. Another reason why Termine probably didn’t get much of an interview with him.
Lin’s first All-Star Weekend could contrast with the event that’s now struggling to get ratings. Many cite the moment LeBron didn’t take Kobe’s challenge as the fall of the NBA’s biggest midseason spectacle. D-Wade and many others also explained that the media routine tires out the players. The 2026 All-Star Weekend also saw Kevin Durant call out European players for a lack of effort.
Amid all this All-Star disenchantment, maybe fans need a Linsanity 2.0 to liven up the event again.
