WASHINGTON--US President Barack Obama said Thursday that he had known about NBA star Jeremy Lin's talent long before the"Linsanity"phenomenon swept the sport. "I knew about Jeremy before you did because Arne Duncan, my secretary of education, was captain of the Harvard team,"Obama told the famous US sportswriter Bill Simmons in an interview. "When Arne and I were playing, he said,'I'm telling you, we've got this terrific guard named Jeremy Lin at Harvard.'And then when one of my best friends, whose son is a freshman at Harvard, went for a recruiting  trip he saw Lin in action, so I've been on the Jeremy Lin bandwagon  for a while,"said the president, who is a Harvard Law graduate. Lin, the New York Knicks' point guard, though he was cut twice in December 2011, had had a sudden rise in the past month to high points scoring stardom in Madison Square Garden, the world's biggest basketball stage. He is the first Chinese-American player in the NBA. He has already developed a devoted following among many Asian-Americans and in China, Taiwan, the Philippines and other countries. Clicks to the NYKnicks. Com website _ as basketball fans from around the world search for Lin's news and highlights. "He seems like a wonderful young man. It elevates  this great sport all round the world,"said Obama, a Chicago Bulls fan."And what's been encouraging is to see how fast the sport has bounced back  recently."But he sounded a note of caution on how much basketball costs to watch. "It's really important for professional athletes and sports owners to just remember you got a whole bunch of folks out here, all across the country, who invest so much in their teams. All they ask is not to be so selfish that you're not looking out for your fans,"Obama said. President Obama learned about Jeremy long before through  _  .
news reports a friend Bill Simmons Arne Duncan