Former NBA guard Jeremy Lin, whose never-before-seen rise to stardom in 2012 was dubbed "Linsanity," announced Saturday he is retiring from professional basketball.
The 37-year-old's NBA career is best remembered for his time with the New York Knicks - specifically, a span of about three weeks in February 2012 during which he went from an unknown face at the end of the bench to the hottest name in the league.
With head coach Mike D'Antoni searching for a spark amid a 2-11 stretch, he resorted to Lin - the fourth point guard in the rotation at the time - during a Feb. 4 matchup against the New Jersey Nets. The Harvard product made an immediate impact in his extended minutes; Lin, who had averaged just 3.6 points and 6.1 minutes in nine games before then, finished with 25 points, seven assists, and five rebounds, leading New York to a 99-92 victory.
That spurred a seven-game Knicks winning streak during which Lin averaged 24.4 points, 9.1 assists, four rebounds, and 1.6 steals while shooting 51.2% from the floor. He scored a career-high 38 points in win No. 4 - a 92-85 triumph over the Los Angeles Lakers in which he outdueled the late Kobe Bryant.
However, Linsanity's hallmark moment was yet to come. The phenomenon reached a fever pitch on Valentine's Day when the Knicks guard hit a game-winning 3-pointer against the Toronto Raptors while receiving cheers from the opposing crowd.
His last NBA appearance came in 2019, when he played sparingly for the Raptors in the postseason as the franchise captured its first championship. The following year, Lin signed with the Beijing Ducks of the Chinese Basketball Association, his first of three straight campaigns in the CBA. He played his last two seasons in Taiwan's P. League+.
Lin averaged 11.6 points, 4.3 assists, 2.8 rebounds, and 1.1 steals in 480 games over nine NBA seasons. He made his most career appearances for the Houston Rockets (153) in the two years following his lone, lockout-shortened season in New York and also played for the Golden State Warriors, Brooklyn Nets, Charlotte Hornets, Lakers, and Atlanta Hawks.
