Linflation? Point guard's rookie card skyrockets in value

A rookie card for New York Knicks guard Jeremy Lin sold on EBay Inc. for $21,580 two weeks after changing hands for $1,000. Yair Rozmaryn, a Knicks' season-ticket holder from New York, had purchased the card on Feb. 8 two days after the 23- year-old Lin's first National Basketball Association start. Lin, a Harvard University economics graduate, has risen from an undrafted player cut by two other teams to the most sought-after corporate player at the NBA's All-Star Weekend in Orlando, Florida, after leading the Knicks to an 8-3 record as a starter. Rozmaryn said he was impressed by Lin's play and appeal to a large audience. He cited Lin's style of play, his Asian ancestry and the size of the New York market, the biggest in the U.S. “I figured this could really blow up, so I took a calculated risk,” said Rozmaryn, a 29-year-old client delivery manager at information technology company Mitchell Martin Inc. The card, which contains a Lin autograph and a piece of the guard's jersey, had 36 bids during the seven-day online auction, which ended yesterday at 3:40 p.m. New York time. The buyer, a San Francisco man who Rozmaryn declined to identify, placed the winning bid in the last 10 seconds of the auction and hasn't made further contact, according to the seller. Another New Yorker, identified by the New York Post as Pamela Schecter, paid $42,388 in a charity auction this week for a package that included a game-worn Lin jersey, Knicks tickets and a chance to meet the player. Heat Defeat Lin scored at least 20 points in eight of his first nine starts. He struggled last night in a 102-88 loss to the Miami Heat, going 1-for-11 from the floor with eight turnovers and eight points. Rozmaryn said the so-called Linsanity label that the Knicks and news media have used to describe the player's rush of success had a chance to continue and push the card's value higher. “If the Knicks make a playoff run or somehow make it to a championship in the next couple years, this is the guy that is going to be a driving force,” he said in a telephone interview. “This card has a lot of potential to move in the future.” --Bloomberg News--