Rudy Ruettiger, the inspirational figure behind the movie “Rudy,” was a practice squad player and parlayed one sack in his final game at Notre Dame into a career as an motivational speaker and purveyor of questionable investments. And we thought Jeremy Lin’s five-game sample size was too small upon which to build a reputation.

Today, Carmelo Anthony was speaking to reporters and compared Jeremy Lin to the subject of the 1993 movie (or, alternatively, to Rudy Gay): “He’s Rudy, that’s our Rudy”. The New York media has been scurrying to create a conflict between the return of the ball movement-challenged Carmelo and the new point guard Lin when Carmelo returns. The guess here is that this comment will not be viewed positively, regardless of how ‘Melo intended it.

Lin has been the key figure and story at the center of a run by the Knicks while Anthony has been out of the lineup since playing five minutes in the Utah game a week ago, a stretch that has resulted in four straight New York wins. He hasn’t just been a little inspirational figure who made one symbolic play, inspiring his better teammates to want to do better.

Of course, if we are comparing players to athletic movie characters, then perhaps Carmelo is the Knicks’ Teen Wolf, a basketball player who loved to have the ball in his hands and dominate play. With his Rudy now playing, we’ll see if Carmelo can refuse to “wolf out”, and transform himself into the Knick’s Scott Howard instead.

Previously: ESPN Poll Asks Whether Jeremy Lin is NBA’s Best Point Guard
Previously: “All the Asian-American guys want to be Jeremy Lin and all the Asian-American girls want to marry him.”
Previously: Jeremy Lin Put Derek Fisher on Spin Cycle [UPDATE: Lin Scores 38 Points, Knicks Win]

[photo via Getty]