Lin ‘embarrassed’ he didn’t earn NBA championship
Jeremy Lin’s summer began with an National Basketball Association championship as a member of the Toronto Raptors, but things have gone downhill from there. Now a free agent and possibly despairing of another opportunity to play in the league, the veteran point guard spoke emotionally over the weekend of hitting “rock bottom.”
Appearing on GOOD TV, a Taiwanese station specializing in Christian programming, Lin addressed an audience on the importance of never giving up. To make his point, he summarized a path through the NBA that didn’t play out as he’d hoped and has left him hoping to latch on somewhere and prove himself all over again. “Man, it’s hard, life is hard,” said the 30-year-old guard, wiping tears from his eyes, “because I’ve always wanted to do things the right way, and I’ve given more of myself to God every single year, and every year it gets harder.”
“In English there’s a saying, and it says once you hit rock bottom, the only way is up,” Lin continued. “But rock bottom just seems to keep getting more and more rock bottom for me.
“So, free agency has been tough. Because I feel like, in some ways, the NBA’s kind of given up on me.”
Born in California to Taiwanese immigrants, Lin became the first Asian American to win an NBA title.
However, after being waived by the Atlanta Hawks in February and signing with the Raptors, he averaged only 3.4 minutes for Toronto in the playoffs, and he played just one minute during a six-game Finals win over the Golden State Warriors.
He was excited to have an opportunity in Toronto, but a lateseason shooting slump led to limited minutes in the playoffs.
“But we won a championship,” Lin continued, “and I thought to myself, ‘You know what? It’s OK, I’ll take this hit and get back up.’” He thought next season would “be a lot different,” but “then free agency came around, and this was the last straw that broke the camel’s back.”
“After the season I had to get ready for this Asia trip, and it was the last thing I wanted to do,” Lin added. “Because I knew for six weeks I would have to just put on a smile.
“I would have to talk about a championship that I don’t feel like I really earned. I would have to talk about a future I don’t know if I want to have. And honestly, it’s just embarrassing, and it’s tough.”
If the NBA has no room anymore for Lin, basketball fans might see him spending the upcoming season in Russia.