Technically the decision to have surgery on his knee fell to Jeremy Lin himself — and he made it official when he decided Saturday to have the procedure that will keep him out six weeks, until the start of the playoffs (at best).
But everyone in the Knicks organization had known what the ultimate outcome of his injury would be — they had known he had a torn meniscus for days. They just wanted to sit on that information until after season ticket holders had paid all their playoff ticket money, reports Frank Isola at the New York Daily News.
As is the practice with all teams, people purchase a package for every playoff game through the NBA finals, then get their money returned when the team falls by the wayside. However, in the interim, teams make interest on the money sent them.
The Knicks used Lin to sell the playoff tickets knowing full well he might not be there to play, according to the report. However, the Knicks went even further to cover up the seriousness of Lin’s injury for a few days.That was a crucial day inside the club’s executive offices at Two Penn Plaza because March 28 represented the deadline for season- ticket holders to purchase all four rounds of the playoffs.
In fact, in the email sent to subscribers, there is a picture of Lin leaping in celebration. Yet, it was two days before the deadline when Lin and the Knicks’ medical staff learned that the second-year point guard/cash cow was suffering from a torn meniscus in his left knee and that he wouldn’t be jumping for joy anytime soon….
On Friday in Atlanta, Woodson told reporters that he didn’t know “when” or “if” Lin would return to the lineup. Within one hour, the Knicks’ media relations staff released a statement to select media outlets contradicting Woodson.
Suddenly, the Knicks’ position was that there was a chance Lin could play either Tuesday in Indiana or Thursday in Orlando. In theory, they weren’t wrong. Lin had yet to decide whether to go ahead with surgery. However, Lin was leaning that way and the fact remains that the club had yet to announce the results of an MRI taken four days earlier. Lin’s knee wasn’t just sore. It is damaged.The Knicks have left themselves plausible deniability here — they can say “Lin had not decided what to do yet.” But that’s clear they were trying to keep this out of the eye of the public as long as they could to protect their financial interests. Basically, they are saying they don’t trust their fans to be there for them if Lin isn’t. Kind of sad, they are back to their secretive ways. The team on the court may be better, but the Knicks are still the Knicks.