Hey, Don’t The Blazers Need A General Manager?

The man who foresaw Jeremy Lin’s NBA success drives a truck for FedEx in Bend, Ore. In May 2010, Ed Weiland wrote on the Website “Hoops Analyst” that “Jeremy Lin is a good enough player to start in the NBA and possibly star.”

From a story about Weiland in the Wall Street Journal:

“At the time, Lin was a lightly regarded, semi-known point guard who had completed his final season at Harvard. But Weiland saw NBA material. He emphasized how well Lin played in three non-conference games against big schools: Connecticut, Boston College and Georgetown. He noted how Lin’s performance in two unsexy statistical categories—two-point field-goal percentage (a barometer of inside scoring ability) and RSB40 (rebounds, steals and blocks per 40 minutes) compared favorably with college numbers put up by marquee NBA guards like Allen Iverson and Gary Payton.”

Since then, of course, Lin has gone undrafted, been released by two NBA teams, and become the most unlikely sports sensation since Mark Fidrych. You know, your typical NBA journey.