Jeremy Lin was a pretty big deal back in 2012 after he took the NBA by storm with the New York Knicks. The Taiwanese-American player was one of those stories nobody saw coming, but everybody loved watching as it developed. 10 years ago, Linsanity took over New York and the rest of the league, with Lin putting up incredible performances.
He had one of the most memorable stretches in NBA history in February 2012, marking a huge era for Asians not only in sports but in other niches. The guard showed up like this ‘nerd’ that couldn’t play well and when he took the ball, the magic happened.
Jeremy scored 136 points in his first five NBA starts, making it clear he was ready to shock the world, even more than he already did. Even Kobe Bryant had to admit that Lin was a problem when they went at it in a mythical duel at Madison Square Garden.
That was definitely the best moment of Lin’s NBA career and one of the best of his life, but it all came to an abrupt end when the New York Knicks decided to part ways with him and leave the door wide open for the Houston Rockets to land Lin.
Jeremy Lin Denies Carmelo Anthony’s Jealousy Was The Reason The Knicks Didn’t Re-Sign Him In 2012
A lot has been said about Lin’s time in New York and how some of his teammates were jealous of him. This is something former head coach Mike D’Antoni and former teammate Amar’e Stoudemire expressed in the past, and Lin is well aware of that. Many people thought one of the people jealous of his popularity was Carmelo Anthony, the superstar of the team. However, the current CBA player has denied those claims.
In a recent interview with Marlow Stern of The Daily Beast, Lin opened up on his time with the Knicks and what really happened before he left the team, a situation that made a lot of people mad.
That was insane to me that the Knicks didn’t re-sign you. I’m still mad about that.
Yeah. I’m pretty sad.
Lin was asked about the situation with Melo, clarifying that people opposite to Melo were the ones that wanted him out of MSG.
The reality is, you were a global icon and experts estimated at the time that you had raised the value of the Knicks team by hundreds of millions of dollars. I know Houston inserted a poison pill in your contract, but it still doesn’t make sense. What do you think happened there? Do you think Melo, and his jealousy, was the reason why you weren’t re-signed?
I mean, I think that’s… that’s the theory, and that’s what everyone says, but I can’t feed the speculation train because I don’t actually know. I know, and I’m saying this truthfully, that there were multiple points of opposition completely outside of Melo within what was going on, and once D’Antoni resigned, there was already opposition within the organization—whether it was the coaching staff that took over or certain members of the front office. But there was definitely, from what I’ve heard or gathered in the few years after, it wasn’t all as rosy as people thought it was. I don’t know who to attribute it to, but I know there were multiple points of opposition.
Lin suffered an injury at the end of the 2011-12 NBA season and couldn’t play in the postseason with the Knicks. He would leave the team that summer and join the Houston Rockets, but his career never was the same after he left the Big Apple. The Knicks were never successful with or without Lin, but there’s no doubt that the Taiwanese-American gave them that spark during the 26 games he played that season.
Lin’s career went down a spiral after that moment, but the Linsanity will never be forgotten in the streets of New York.
