Former NBA guard Jeremy Lin announced today on Instagram that he’s retiring as a basketball player following a lengthy professional career (hat tip to RealGM).
“As athletes, we are always aware that the possibility of retirement is never far away,” Lin wrote as part of a longer statement. “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 every time I touched a basketball.”
After starring in college at Harvard, Lin went undrafted in 2010 but quickly caught on with Golden State. He didn’t play much as a rookie, only making 28 NBA appearances for the Warriors (9.8 minutes per game) and spending a good chunk of 2010/11 in the G League (then known as the D-League).
Lin, now 37, was cut by both Golden State and Houston (which claimed him off waivers) before the lockout-shortened 2011/12 season began. A couple days after being released by Houston, he was claimed again, this time by the Knicks.
While his time with New York was relatively brief, he was a major contributor during a 26-game stretch from February-March 2012, memorably averaging 18.5 points, 7.7 assists, 3.7 rebounds and 2.0 steals in 34.2 minutes per contest and helping the team turn its season around.
As a restricted free agent in the 2012 offseason, Lin signed a lucrative Arenas provision contract with the Rockets, which New York declined to match. Lin spent two seasons in Houston but bounced around the league over the following five years, playing for the Lakers, Hornets, Nets, Hawks and Raptors, winning an NBA title as a role player with Toronto in 2019.
Overall, Lin appeared in 480 NBA regular season games — including 221 starts — from 2010-19. He held career averages of 11.6 PPG, 4.3 APG, 2.8 RPG and 1.1 SPG in 25.3 MPG, with a shooting slash line of .433/.342/.809.
Lin has mostly played in China and Taiwan over the past six years, though he did attempt an NBA comeback during the ’20/21 campaign with the G League’s Santa Cruz Warriors.