"There was a time, before an Asian-American point guard took over New York City, when a French-American point guard was in line to try the same.

Amare Stoudemire announced in the summer of 2010 that Tony Parker is "ready to join me" with the Knicks. And a New York tabloid quoted Eva Longoria saying that, yes, Parker would like to play in New York.

Stoudemire, Longoria and Parker would eventually go their separate ways. If the lights of New York had ever tugged at Parker, he let it go when he signed an extension with the Spurs.

Then, Parker opted for what he knew, and where he had grown up. And what happened this past month helped satisfy whatever need for fame he had.

Even in Parker's craziest dreams of playing on the New York stage, he could never have imagined being Jeremy Lin. Who could? Harvard students create Facebook, not in-your-face.

Lin made shots Friday night from the start, and he also made the front-row seats worth $4,000 each. Madison Square Garden howled for Linsanity and chanted "MVP, MVP."

The Lakers played along, looking even creakier than usual after a tight game the night before in Boston. Still, Lin completed a week unseen for a first-time starter since the merger; Yale and Princeton must really play defense, because Lin should have averaged 50 in the Ivy League.

Parker, talking after practice not far from Madison Square Garden earlier in the day, loved the story. But Parker also laughed. If Lin had done this for Sacramento, for example, wouldn't he have gotten a fraction of the attention?

"I've always told people," Parker said Friday, "if we had won our three titles in five years in New York, we'd be rock stars."

He was quick to follow that with an explanation, that he wouldn't have traded what he's done in San Antonio for anything. He doesn't want people thinking he wishes he were elsewhere."