"My G.P.A. was not a 4.2," Lin, who studied economics, confessed to the San Francisco Chronicle last summer. "That's been the rumor. It's not even possible. My friends have been absolutely killing me about that." But he did hit the books apparently: He graduated with a 3.1, he said.
Now that he knows Lin is a force to be reckoned with, Bryant had nothing but kind words for the man who outplayed him on the court. "Players don't usually come out of nowhere," Bryant, who scored 34 points for his team, said after Friday's game. "If you go back and take a look, his skill level was probably there from the beginning but no one ever noticed." He added: "It's a great story. It's a testament to perseverance and hard work. I am sure he has put in a great deal of work to always have that belief in himself. Now he has the opportunity to show it."