A former Los Angeles Lakers guard is retiring from the game after 15 years in the pros. Late on Saturday night, 6-foot-3 combo guard Jeremy Lin took to his Instagram to announce his decision to step away from basketball as a player. Lin has been playing outside the NBA since 2019. Most recently, he suited up for Taiwan’s New Taipei Kings.
“As athletes, we are always aware that the possibility of retirement is never far away,” Lin wrote on his Instagram. “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 was initially passed over coming out of Harvard in the 2010 NBA Draft, but latched on with his hometown Golden State Warriors. He was toggled between the then-D-League and Golden State throughout the year, playing in just 29 matchups.
But he really broke out with the New York Knicks the next season, who picked him up off waivers amid a litany of point guard injuries. Lin’s explosive play helped save the Knicks’ season, although a small left knee meniscus tear eventually ended his year ahead of the playoffs.
An NBA Trailblazer
The first American of Taiwanese descent to ever play in the NBA, Lin’s hot streak with New York was dubbed “Linsanity,” dominated the sports conversation for weeks, and even inspired a documentary. Lin signed with the Houston Rockets on a three-year, $25.1 million deal the next summer. He was traded to the Lakers for the 2014-15 season to finish out his contract.
“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’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.”
During his lone year with the 21-61 Lakers, Lin was toggled between a starting role and L.A.’s bench, averaging 11.2 points on .424/.369/.795 shooting splits, 4.6 dimes, 2.6 boards, and 1.1 steals in 74 healthy bouts (30 starts).
In free agency, Lin inked a bi-annual exception deal with the Charlotte Hornets, for whom he would enjoy a rebound season and finish seventh in Sixth Man of the Year voting. Lin bounced around the league for a few more injury-plagued seasons, ultimately wrapping up his NBA tenure on the championship-winning 2019 Toronto Raptors as a deep-bench backup.
He’s enjoyed a decorated international career in the years since, making an All-Star appearance on the CBA’s Beijing Ducks, being named the Taiwan Professional Basketball League MVP this season, and winning a pair of titles with the New Taipei Kings over the last two years.
