Santa Cruz Warriors’ Jeremy Lin bids farewell to the NBA

 

Jeremy Lin on Tuesday hinted that his NBA career might have come to an end as he didn’t get “one chance to get back on the floor.”

The Santa Cruz Warriors star wrote a heartfelt message on Twitter on Tuesday night. It read as follows:

“So I gave up a season overseas to go down to the G League — a move few vets dare make. I’ve always known I need to jump through extra hoops to prove I belong so this was par for the course. I’m really proud of what I accomplished — I killed it in the G League and objectively showed it being a league leader in all categories a PG should and shooting career-highs across the board.

“For months, I saw others get contracts, chances, opportunities. I told myself I just need ONE ten-day contract, one chance to get back on the floor and I would blow it out the water. After all that’s how my entire career started — off one chance to prove myself.

“For reasons I’ll never fully know, that chance never materialized. But I proved I’m better than ever and an NBA player. And like I’ve said before…dream big dreams, risk big heartache.

“I’m blessed — I’ve had an NBA career beyond my wildest dreams. I had the luxury of taking a year to chase a dream w/o worrying about paying bills. My family, friends, business partners all waited on me as I gave up being a go-to player in China to go back to the G League.”

The 32-year-old, a point guard, made a smashing start to his NBA career while playing for the New York Knicks in 2012. He was later drafted and released by the Golden State Warriors.

The Knicks went on a seven-game winning streak after Lin was promoted to the starting lineup having recovered from a series of injuries.

As a result, an epithet — Linsanity — was assigned to him as he hit a game-winning three-pointer against Toronto Raptors in their game against them on February 14, 2012.

Lin played for eight teams in his NBA career that lasted a total of nine years. As far as his numbers go, he averaged 11.6 points, 2.8 rebounds, 4.3 assists and 1.1 steals. However, in his nine games with the Santa Cruz Warriors, Lin fared much better — average of 19.8 points, 3.2 rebounds and 6.4 assists.

He also sent out a message to the future generation of Asian-American basketball players who wanted to make it big to the NBA stage.

“To the next generation of Asian American ballers — man, I so wish I could have done more on the NBA court to break more barriers — (especially) now — but you guys got next,” Lin wrote in an Instagram post Tuesday.

“When you get your shot, do NOT hesitate. Don’t worry whether anyone else thinks you belong. The world never will. If there’s any chance to doubt, they will. But when you get your foot in the door, KICK THAT DOOR DOWN. And then bring others up with you,” he added.

This doesn’t mark the conclusion of Lin’s professional basketball playing career, though. According to several reports, he might make a move back to the Chinese Basketball Association. He played for the Beijing Ducks in the 2019-20 season and averaged 22.4 points, 5.6 rebounds and 5.6 assists.