Jeremy Lin announced his retirement from professional basketball on Saturday evening after a nine year career in the NBA which briefly saw him become the face of the New York Knicks and the namesake of a sporting phenomenon.
“As an athletes, we are always aware that the possibility of retirement is never far away. I spent my 15-year career knowing that one day I should go, and yet in fact goodbye to basketball today was the most difficult decision I have ever made “,”, ” Lin wrote in an article on social networks.
Lin, the son of Taiwanese immigrants, grew up in Palo Alto, California, stimulated by his mother, he graduated from the University of Harvard, who does not give sports scholarships.
He was not selected in the draft of the 2009 NBA, then signed with his hometown Golden State Warriors, where he played for a year. The beginnings of linen drew special attention from the American and Chinese media, the large Asian population of the database of fans celebrating their arrival. However, his playing time was limited over the season, and he spent most of the year on the bench.
The Knicks asked for flax derogations in 2011 after losing the starting goalkeeper Iman Shumpert to a tear of the LCA. Lin first had to compete for a safeguard role and knew that the team was planning to cut it. Hampired by injuries, New York had however struck a crisis. Wrong A product by Carmelo AnthonyAntoni’s coach Mike gave Lin a chance to play in February 2012 when the team’s offensive was at a standstill.
In a few days, Lin skyrocketed after an average of 24.6 points, 9.2 assists and 4.1 rebounds on a section of 11 games. Fans, peers and commentators embraced the 23 -year -old escape, the “Linsanity” overbuilding.
Although hysteria only lasted around two weeks, the aggressive style of linen challenged racial stereotypes surrounding Asian American players. As a leader, he is recognized for showing that Americans of Asian origin were not passive players incapable of carrying out an offense. His ability to Dunk presented his athletics and distinguished her as someone capable of triggering a fire in teammates and fans.
Linen fame has overshadowed most of its predecessors by a large margin. Wat Misaka, a Japanese American who served in the United States army during his occupation in Japan, became the first Asian Professional Basketball player in 1947. Like Lin, he played for Knicks, who were then part of the Basketball Association of America, but Misaka’s professional career only lasted, during which he only played in three games.
In 1978, Raymond Townsend became the first American Philippin of the NBA, but his two -year race did not carry out a general recognition. Later, the Chinese giant Yao Ming, who became a face of the League and an All-Star eight times in his career 2002-2011. Yao was a full phenomenon. The temple of fame remains the largest Asian star in the history of the NBA and is an icon and a venerated framework in its country of origin.
Lin, however, was different. He was a local star in northern California who Faced with years of racist comments Competitors and fans at home while playing Harvard, then had to fight for a place. The NBA had not seen anyone playing at him at the level he did.
“It is the honor of a life to compete with the fiercest competitors under the brightest lights and to challenge what the world thought possible for someone who looks like me,” said Lin in his retirement position.
“Linsanity” propelled the 6 -foot 3 -inch goalkeeper to the stars’ status while he was putting a sequence of seven consecutive victories which helped send the Knicks to the NBA 2012 qualifiers.
“It’s a great story”, Kobe Bryant said In a “Lisanity” interview, One day after saying that he had no idea who was linen, And one evening when Lin has outlined him 38-34.
“It is a testimony to perseverance and hard work. I’m sure he has put a lot of work to always have this belief in itself. Now he has the opportunity to show it. ”
The Knicks lost in the first round of the playoffs after meeting Lebron James and the Miami Heat, who continued to hoist the Larry O’Brien trophy this season. Lin torn his left meniscus less than a month before the start of the playoffs, which led to an end -of -season operation. However, despite the early end, “Linsanity” had already engraved it several times in the history of the NBA.
LeBron James praised the game and linen leadership before their force test in the NBA 2012 qualifiers. (Mike Ehrmann / Getty Images)
The 89 points that Lin scored during his first three departures with the Knicks was the most by a player since the NBA-ABA merger 1976-77, according to the Elias sports office. He later became the first American of Asian origin to win an NBA championship as part of Toronto’s raptors 2018-2019.
The first and the only Lin NBA championship did not know herself well with him. He publicly declared that he had not won his ring after playing badly during the Raptors eliminatory series race. Once the season is over, he found himself without a team, did not know during the free agency.
“I had this section of 12 games where I did not play as well, and that was everything,” Lin told Business Insider In 2022. “So you have to think for me, after playing nine years in the league, I expected that, ok, I have a reputation, people know what I can do. But I was quite surprised at the speed at which people were like” ok, he did. “”
“When I add it all, I would say that the race has a role to play.
The lack of interest of the NBA led Lin to Chinese Basketball Association in 2019, where he became a star again. Although he returned briefly to the United States in 2021 as part of the Warriors G-League team, the Warriors of Santa Cruz, he spent the rest of his career in China and Taiwan, winning another championship and MVP of the TPBL final with the new Kings of Taipei in June.
Beyond Knicks, Raptors and Warriors, Lin also had short stays with the Houston Rockets, Los Angeles Lakers, Charlotte Hornets, Brooklyn Nets and Atlanta Hawks. A companion in his entire career, he never spent more than two seasons with a team. Lin put an end to his NBA mandate with an average of 11.6 points, 2.8 rebounds in total and 4.3 assists per game.
“I have experienced my wildest childhood dreams to play in front of fans around the world,” he said in his retirement announcement. “I will always be the kid who felt fully alive every time I touched a basketball ball.”
(Top Photo: Chris Trotman / Getty Images)
