Local fans of New York Knicks point guard Jeremy Lin (林書豪) defied the rain early yesterday in Taipei to get their hands on the first official “Linsanity” T-shirts available in Taiwan.
Hundreds lined up outside an Adidas store before the limited-edition white T-shirts went on sale at 11am. Some in the crowd were students who said they had taken time off school to buy one of the 250 shirts emblazoned with the words “New York” on the front, “Lin” on the back and the number 17 on both sides.
Two high-school students, who were first in line, said they had been there since 7am. Dressed in their school uniforms, they said they were thrilled to buy the T-shirt and really admired Lin for playing basketball well and doing well in his studies.
Photo: Reuters
With that in mind, the students said: “We will go back to school in the afternoon.”
Each paying customer was limited to one T-shirt, which cost NT$1,090.
For an item to sell out on a single day like this is rare for the store, Adidas Taiwan marketing director Andy Chan (詹啟聖) said. For those who were unable to get T-shirts, they could try again today, as more would be made available around Taiwan, Chan said.
A separate blue “Linsanity” Adidas T-shirt is scheduled to hit stores on Friday, when 10,000 T-shirts of both editions are to be made available.
Meanwhile, T-shirts of the former Harvard point guard have also seen strong sales in Orlando, Florida, the location of this weekend’s NBA All-Star festivities.
A Taiwanese fan said he bought 10 T-shirts at the Amway Center, home to the Orlando Magic. The man, surnamed Wang, said he bought them for friends and relatives in Taiwan.
Lin is part of a team being led by former All-Star Shaquille O’Neal — who in his career played for the Magic, Los Angeles Lakers, Miami Heat, Phoenix Suns, Cleveland Cavaliers and Boston Celtics — in the Rising Stars Challenge today. Team O’Neal will play against a team led by basketball Hall-of-Famer and TV analyst Charles Barkley.
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