• by Wayne Friedman , February 16, 2012

No sports surprise here -- the New York Knicks' Jeremy Lin has rocketed to the top of the charts when it comes to social media buzz, and traditional TV viewership of NBA games he has appeared in.

Nielsen/McKinsey's NM Incite group there has been a 73% increase in TV viewership for NY Knicks games on ESPN and MSG. The biggest individual game was the nationally-aired game on ESPN on  February 10 between the Los Angeles Lakers and New York Knicks. It was the most-watched Friday night regular season NBA game on the network so far this season with just over 3 million viewers.

Social media-wise, Lin went from a zero score on February 4 to a 0.32% of all online conversation by February 15. That may not sound like a lot, however, in terms of the NBA, this was more than the New York Knicks, and big NBA players LeBron James and Kobe Bryant combined.