Jeremy Lin retires after 15-year pro basketball career
jeremy-lin-retires-after-15-year-pro-basketball-career
Jeremy Lin, the point guard who sparked the “Linsanity” phenomenon with the New York Knicks in 2012, announced on Saturday night that he is retiring from professional basketball.
The 37-year-old made the decision public in an Instagram post, calling it “the hardest” choice he has ever faced. “As athletes, we are always aware that the possibility of retirement is never far away,” Lin wrote. “I’ve spent my 15 year career knowing that one day I would have to walk away, and yet actually saying goodbye to basketball today has been the hardest decision I’ve ever made.”
Lin concluded his playing days in Taiwan, where he helped the New Taipei Kings capture back-to-back league championships. He earned the Taiwan Professional Basketball League’s inaugural season MVP award and followed with Finals MVP honors during the Kings’ title run.
Undrafted out of Harvard, where he joined the roster as a walk-on, Lin spent nine NBA seasons with eight franchises: the Knicks, Golden State Warriors, Houston Rockets, Los Angeles Lakers, Charlotte Hornets, Brooklyn Nets, Atlanta Hawks and Toronto Raptors. He captured an NBA championship ring with Toronto in 2019.
Lin’s breakout arrived in February 2012 when Knicks coach Mike D’Antoni elevated him to the starting lineup while Carmelo Anthony was sidelined. Lin responded with a seven-game winning streak, scoring at least 20 points in nine of ten contests. The stretch included a 38-point, seven-assist performance in a victory over the Los Angeles Lakers, outscoring Kobe Bryant’s 34 points.
During the 2011-12 season, Lin averaged 14.6 points and 6.2 assists over 35 games for New York. His NBA career concluded with averages of 11.6 points and 4.3 assists across 480 games.
“It’s been the honor of a lifetime to compete against the fiercest competitors under the brightest lights and to challenge what the world thought was possible for someone who looks like me,” Lin wrote. “I will forever be the kid who felt fully alive every time I touched a basketball.”
Source: ESPN
