In modern Asian American history, there is one name that stands apart – Jeremy Lin. For a brief moment in time, Jeremy Lin is the Asian American unicorn that captured the hearts and minds of Americans everywhere. Taiwanese American professional basketball player Jeremy Lin had been playing professionally overseas the past few years, and prior to that, in the NBA. He became one of the most known AMERICANS during his breakout NBA performance known as “LINSANITY.” Just learned that Jeremy Lin retires from 15 years as a professional basketball player, announced Saturday night on Instagram.
“As athletes, we are always aware that the possibility of retirement is never far away. 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.
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. 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 everytime I touched a basketball.
So many people have sacrificed and poured into my journey, more than I could ever repay. Thank you all for believing in me, for walking with me, for celebrating my highs and picking me up in my lows. This is a ride I never wanted to end but I know it’s time. I will forever miss playing basketball in front of you all but our time will go beyond just playing. Here’s to what’s ahead.
Love you all ❤️”
As The New York Times reported:
“Jeremy Lin may have never won a ring for the New York Knicks. And his star turn at Madison Square Garden lasted mere months. But in that stretch, his electric play propelled a moribund team into the playoffs, rejuvenated bored fans and started a craze: “Linsanity.”
On Saturday, Lin’s career came to an end. The journeyman, who spent 15 years on N.B.A. teams and in leagues in Asia, announced his retirement from professional basketball on his Instagram account.
The unlikely star, a walk-on at Harvard who went undrafted, outshined the league’s biggest names in 2012. Few had heard of Lin, a bench player who joined the N.B.A. in 2010, when the Knicks picked him up a year later. And even fewer expected him to stand out.
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The improbable starter led the team on a seven-game winning streak and averaged 22 points a game before the All-Star break. Madison Square Garden was alive again, brimming with the usual fans, like Spike Lee, and the casual fans, many of whom had lost faith in the perpetual losers.
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As Lin’s jerseys sold out and the Knicks dominated sports headlines, fans and commentators began to describe the mania surrounding him as Linsanity.
With the Lakers, led by Kobe Bryant, set to play at Madison Square Garden, Bryant — never shy about taunting opponents — weighed in on the frenzy. “Who is this kid?” the five-time champion said on the eve of the matchup.
The next night, Lin dropped 38 points on Bryant in a stunning Knicks win. D’Antoni, the coach, later remembered Lin coming up to him after the win and saying, I guess Kobe knows my name now.
Harvey Araton, a Times columnist, mused the next day that Lin was “the Knicks’ grandest stroke of fortune” since signing Knicks legend Patrick Ewing in 1985. One fan, The Times reported, said he had not seen a mood like the one Lin inspired since 1955, when he first started attending games.
By the time Lin led his team to victory over Bryant’s Lakers, he had already become a New York icon and had inspired a new generation of young Asian American basketball fans. His status as a role model, he would later say, took him years to embrace.”
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