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Reader question: Please explain this passage with “perfect storm” in particular (Lin has 13 assists, Knicks run win streak to 7, AP, February 15, 2017): “I knew him before he was Linmania. He’s still the same humble guy,” Kings coach Keith Smart said. “The guy has not changed a bit, which is real special for a young man.” Lin played last season in Golden State for Smart, who praised Lin’s work ethic and attitude, but never imagined “the perfect storm” that would lead to these results. My comments: The perfect storm here means that New York is the perfect situation for Jeremy Lin. But, first, let’s get the phrase “the perfect storm” out of the way so that we can talk more about Linmania, the Linderella story of the NBA that’s taken the sports world by storm over the past week. First, definitions. Literally the perfectly powerful storm, the perfect storm describes the worst hurricanes that devastate North America annually. All hurricanes are storms, but, as meteorologists will tell you, not all hurricanes are created equal – it takes a number of meteorological conditions to create the really big ones, such as the 2005 Hurricane Katrina, one of the deadliest in history. “The Oxford English Dictionary has published references going back to 1718 for “perfect storm,” though the earliest citations use the phrase positively, as in a “perfect storm” of applause,” according to Wikipedia, but the weather-related phenomenon term is relatively new. More from Wikipedia: | 
