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Now the Harvard-educated 23-year-old, who is American-born of Chinese parentage, is an international hero after turning an unexpected big break into gold dust.

Coming on as the starting point guard for the injury-hit New York Knicks last Saturday against the New Jersey Nets, he scored 25 points – an astonishing total for an unknown - an achievement he capped two days later by notching up 28 points against the Utah Jazz.

On Wednesday he made it three in a row, netting 23 points in his third game against the Washington Wizards.

The result has been Lin-mania – with fans from New York to Beijing hailing him as the biggest thing in basketball since Kobe Bryant.

Television ratings for the third of Lin’s games jumped by 36 per cent, as millions tuned in to see if he could repeat his opening tricks. Even more are expected to watch tonight.

And with coaches around the US praising his technical abilities, fans across America and Asia, where basketball is wildly popular, have quickly taken Lin to their hearts. His next games are due to be shown in China, Taiwan and the Philippines.

Angry fans desperate to get hold of replicas of Lin’s Number 17 shirt ahead of tonight’s crunch Knicks' game against Bryant’s LA Lakers have been venting their fury at retailers.

A devout Christian, Lin has said that his hero is Tim Tebow – the ultra-devout quarter back for the Denver Broncos whose on-field prayers have made him a national star.

What makes Lin, the first ethnic Chinese-American player in the NBA, so astonishing is his staggeringly brief journey from zero to hero.

Lin’s parents - Gie-Ming and Shirley – are both only five foot six. They immigrated from Taiwan in the 1970s, although his mother’s roots go back to China.

Most star players are spotted as early as high school, if not before, and almost always go on to play for one of the big basketball universities.

But six foot three Lin, who is from Palo Alto, California, was turned down by UCLA, his dream college, and did not receive any offers of basketball scholarships. He went to Harvard because they were one of only two teams to offer him a place on the squad; he studied economics.

Lin was undrafted after college – meaning no NBA team picked up his contract – but after doing well at a summer camp, he signed with the Golden State Warriors – a move that some critics claim was done only so the team could increase their popularity in the lucrative Asian markets.

While he did fairly well with the Warriors, Lin was demoted to an affiliated D-League team three times, only to be recalled on each occasion. He was taken on briefly by the Huston Rockets but dropped again before being signed by an injury-struck New York Knicks in December.

At the time, he said that he was expecting to be placed at between 12th and 15th on the roster – meaning he would be unlikely to play.

Before his rise to superstardom, Lin had been sleeping on the couch in the livingroom of a small, one-bedroom apartment in the East Village belonging to his brother, Josh.

One night he was forced to bed down at one of his teammate’s homes because his brother had friends visiting from out of town.

Now those days are over. Lin will get at least $800,000 (£500,000) and quite possibly much more next season. He is said to be house hunting – currently torn between a luxury apartment being sold in the City by another of the Knicks or a sprawling house in Westchester County, near the team’s training camp.

And his fans can’t get enough of him. Co Truong, an advertising rep from Brooklyn who had tried and failed to get a No 17 shirt, said: “It’s something Asian-Americans can be proud of. It’s a Cinderella story.”

Aaron Chin, a student from Manhattan, added: "I’ve been watching all his games. He’s been unbelievable.”