In 2007, the National Basketball Association (NBA) seemed poised for a Chinese revolution. Yao Ming looked like the NBA’s big man of the future, and Yao’s countryman, seven-foot forward Yi Jianlian, was a first-round pick in that year’s draft. That revolution never happened, however, and 2012 marked the first time in a decade that an NBA season began without an Asian player on any team’s roster — but two players are turning the league’s gaze eastward once more.

After 2007, both Yao and Yi faded from view. Yao finished the 2007-2008 season early with a stress fracture to his left foot, an injury that became career-ending. He played one more partial season the year following, five games in 2010, and then retired in 2011 due to chronic foot problems. Yi Jianlian bounced from Milwaukee to New Jersey and Washington, never realizing his potential, and the Wizards cut him at the end of last season.

Just as it seemed teams were tiring of eastern imports, Asian-American sports fans have been rewarded by the return of Yi and the rise of one of the most exciting players on the planet, Jeremy Lin. Lin is the first Taiwanese American to play in the NBA, and is one of just 41 NBA Ivy League alums. As detailed in The Asian Reporter’s February 20 issue, Lin was waived by the Warriors and Rockets — and nearly the Knicks — before he led New York to a resurgence of its own.

In Lin’s 10th game of the year, the Knicks trailed crosstown rival the New Jersey Nets, 21-16, as Lin entered the game in the first quarter. The Nets’ lead grew to 12 points by the start of the second quarter, but Lin narrowed the gap to eight with an energetic burst of versatility early in the quarter, the kind his team would come to expect from him. Lin drove to the hoop, stole a pass a few seconds later, and fed teammate Toney Douglas: four points in 13 seconds on a shot, steal, and assist. Later, with just under 90 seconds in the half, Lin fed Tyson Chandler a dramatic alley-oop to tie the score.

Lin began the second half on the bench, but entered midway through the third quarter with the Knicks trailing by two. Once again, his impact was felt immediately, following up a game-tying dunk by Chandler with a steal that led to another dunk, this time by Landry Fields, giving the Knicks the lead. Lin picked up seven points, two rebounds, and another assist through the rest of the quarter, but his real heroics came in the fourth quarter, when he scored or had an assist in 16 of the team’s final 27 points. New York won 99-92. Lin scored 25 points, gave seven assists, and had five rebounds — all career highs — and his starting job was sealed.

The Knicks won their next six games, and Linsanity had begun. His jerseys quickly became the NBA’s bestseller, and his autographed rookie card sold for more than $21,000 on eBay. Stock in Madison Square Garden (MSG), the company that owns the Knicks’ television rights, shot to a record high on February 13, three nights after Lin scored a career-high 38 points to lead his team past Kobe Bryant and the Los Angeles Lakers. The media has gone wild with puns on his Taiwanese family name: beyond "Linsanity," there’s "Linexplicable," "Divine Lintervention," or Lin’s personal favorite, "Super Lintendo."

Lin’s sudden fame has created controversy, too. Floyd Mayweather, Jr., who has repeatedly dodged a megafight against Filipino boxer Manny Pacquiao, earned widespread scorn when he tweeted that Lin was only getting "hype … because he’s Asian" and that "black players do what he does every night and don’t get the same praise." Lin’s Taiwanese supporters proudly point to Lin’s shared heritage, but Chinese national media either fail to mention his actual heritage or claim his family was from the mainland.

A player has to be good to generate this much controversy, so even bad press is an indication of Lin’s worth among basketball fans. And it comes on the heels of the resurrection of yet another Asian star, Chinese import Yi Jianlian. Signed by the defending champion Dallas Mavericks to a one-year contract in January, Yi became the first NBA veteran to accept a rehab assignment in the basketball developmental league, but he didn’t stay long.

He played just two games with the Texas Legends, averaging 23 points, 12 rebounds, and two blocks against lesser competition. The Mavs recalled Yi on January 9 and he played the next night, coming off the bench against the Detroit Pistons. The Mavs, who had fewer wins than losses when Yi joined them, now have a record of 22-16. The Chinese forward has averaged about eight minutes per game.

Although there is plenty of talent ahead of him, including all-stars Lamar Odom and Vince Carter, Yi provides the team excellent insurance and an outside shooting presence. He can also make defensive stops, like the dominating block he made against DaJuan Summers of the New Orleans Hornets in just his fourth game back. If the Mavs can repeat as NBA champs, Yi would become the first Asian player to wear a championship ring.

It is Lin, however, who has made the bigger splash, and the Knicks have risen to second in the Atlantic Division, giving them a shot at the playoffs, too. Whether or not they do, Asian-American sports fans can once again dream about a time when players like Lin and Yi aren’t exceptions, but the rule.