Former NBA Player and global sensation Jeremy Lin announced his retirement from professional basketball at the age of 37.
Lin was a trailblazer for Asian representation in the NBA, as he was the first American of Chinese descent to play in the league.
After going undrafted out of Harvard in 2010, Lin played for the Golden State Warriors and Houston Rockets’ D-League affiliates, sometimes being called up into the NBA, but never cracking a significant part in the rotation before being released.
However, once Lin signed with the injury-riddled New York Knicks, he finally had a true shot at the pros.
He took it and ran.
During late January to early February 2012, Jeremy Lin would come out of nowhere and average 23.8 points per game for the NBA’s biggest market, and “Linsanity” was born.
The peak of Linsanity was on February 10 against the Lakers. When asked about Lin before the game, Kobe Bryant told the media that Lin wasn’t relevant and “nothing special”.
Lin took this to heart.
That night, Jeremy Lin scored 38 points on the Black Mamba in a 92-85 victory for the Knicks at Madison Square Garden. Lin had made his mark on the league, capitalized with a buzzer-beating game-winner on the road in Toronto vs. the Raptors in the next game.
Linsanity was an early example of social media virality, as when his run began, Twitter was only in its infancy. Tweets and videos of his highlights were seen by millions, and even more discourse online about him fueled his legend.
The Knicks eventually got healthy, Iman Shumpert and Carmelo Anthony returned to the starting lineup, and Linsanity was over, and back on the bench.
The Knicks opted to not resign Lin in free agency that summer, and he has since played for the Houston Rockets, Los Angeles Lakers, Charlotte Hornets, Atlanta Hawks and Toronto Raptors, but never quite recapturing the attention of millions as he had in 2012.
Following his final NBA game in 2019, Lin played six seasons overseas.
Lin averaged about 12 points and 4 assists per game over his career. Following his time with the Knicks, Lin spent his time as a crucial role player. His final NBA game was Game 6 of the 2019 NBA Finals, which he won with the Toronto Raptors.
A very respectable career for an undrafted Harvard graduate.
“As athletes, we are always aware that the possibility of retirement is never far away,” Lin stated in his retirement announcement via his Instagram. “I’ve lived out my wildest childhood dreams to play in front of fans all around the world.”
“I will forever be the kid who felt fully alive every time I touched a basketball.”
