More than three years after his last NBA game, Jeremy Lin — the Bay Area kid and former Golden State Warriors guard who famously sparked “Linsanity” with the New York Knicks back in 2012 — continues to do his thing on the hardwood. And as of this week, he officially has a new spot to ply his trade.
Lin, 34, announced on Instagram that he was heading back once more to the CBA in China, inking a deal with the Guangzhou Loong Lions for 2022-23.
“The journey continues! Still feel like a kid getting to live out my basketball dreams,” Lin wrote in the caption for a series of pics featuring himself in his Guangzhou duds. There was also a snap of the baller putting pen to paper on the new deal.
Lin is no stranger to the CBA, having spent last season — as well as the 2019-20 campaign — with the Beijing Shougang Ducks.
Lin Had a Rough Go Last Season
With his Knicks heyday long behind him and injuries affecting his game, Lin had struggled to hold down a spot in the NBA during his last few seasons stateside. During the 2020-21 campaign, he made a final attempt at getting back into the league by joining the Warriors’ G League affiliate in Santa Cruz.
He acquitted himself well with the Sea Dubs, too, but ultimately wasn’t given an NBA shot. Over nine appearances with the team, Lin averaged 19.8 points, 6.4 assists and 3.2 rebounds per game while hitting 50.5% of his shots overall and 42.6% of his triples.
He faced incredible adversity during his return to China last season, however. The South China Morning Post (archived) reported that Lin contracted COVID-19 and that his case was so bad that he found himself hospitalized. Moreover, he lost nearly 20 pounds while in isolation.
Upon Lin’s return to the hardwood, he contended with the aftereffects of COVID-19, and regaining his previous form proved to be a lengthy process. As a result, he averaged just 13.7 points and 4.4 assists per outing with the Ducks last season, a noticeable step backward from his previous stint with the club.
“I’ve been feeling very tired — like I couldn’t breathe — so for me, going down this path might seem more difficult than others,” he said at the time.
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Lin’s Career at a Glance
In 480 career NBA games over parts of nine season with the Dubs, Knicks, Houston Rockets, Los Angeles Lakers, Charlotte Hornets, Brooklyn Nets, Atlanta Hawks and Toronto Raptors, Lin averaged 11.6 points, 4.3 assists, 2.8 rebounds and 1.1 steals per contest while posting shooting splits of 43-34-81.
He’ll always be best-remembered for that Linsanity run, which was sparked by an out-of-nowhere series of six straight 20-plus point games in February 2012. The high-water mark came on February 10 when he lit up Kobe Bryant and the Lakers for 38 points after the legendary baller claimed to not know what Lin had been doing in NYC.
Linsanity was short-lived, however, as the guard was felled by injury down the stretch. He went on to sign with the Rockets — just before the team made its big move to bring in James Harden.
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Ex-Warrior ‘Linsanity’ Finally Lands in New Basketball Home