After spending the 2019/20 season in the Chinese Basketball Association, veteran point guard Jeremy Lin is leaving the Beijing Ducks and will look to return to the NBA for the ’20/21 campaign (link via ChannelNewsAsia.com).
“This decision has really been the hardest in my life,” Lin said in Mandarin in a Weibo video. “… Every morning I would wake up at 4:00 or 5:00 am, thinking, thinking and thinking all the time. In the end, although (the Ducks) have treated me incredibly well … giving me everything I wanted, in the end, I feel that I still have NBA dreams. I still have time to play (there) and I have to chase this.”
Lin, who made his NBA debut in 2010 with the Warriors, spent time with eight teams in total over the course of nine NBA seasons, enjoying a breakout year with the Knicks in 2011/12 and winning a championship with the Raptors in 2019. He elected to play in China last season and averaged 22.3 PPG, 5.7 RPG, and 5.6 APG for the Ducks, earning a CBA All-Star nod.
It remains to be seen how much interest the 32-year-old will draw from NBA teams. He was a reliable contributor in 51 games for Atlanta in ’18/19, with 10.7 PPG and 3.5 APG on .466/.333/.845 shooting. However, after being bought out by the Hawks and signing with the Raptors, he recorded just 7.0 PPG and 2.2 APG on .374/.200/.810 shooting and fell out of Toronto’s rotation for the playoffs.
Lin, who is Taiwanese-American, said he cried when he told his family that he would be leaving China in an effort to make an NBA comeback.
Bucks
Vet PGs starting to become a bit more scarce so I could see a team taking a flyer on him.
I thought I read earlier this year that Lin was unhappy with how he was being treated in the CBA…
The guy seems to cry more often than a woman watching a Hallmark commercial marathon.
Yale women like sensitive types.
Yeah so is Jimmer Fredette. You’re not getting better going to China you’re just a big fish in a small pond. Remember the name Stephon Marbury? He was done in the NBA because of injuries and age then he played 10 more years in China and was a superstar.
Sorry Jeremy Lin it’s not going to happen. The speed quickness and strength in the NBA hasn’t changed since you had that two-week spurt of success 8 years ago.
He didn’t get a renewal with the Hawks, but got bought out and then sucked with the Raptors in 18/19. Yet, found success with the CBA. Just stay in the CBA. I don’t think Morey has tweeted about Taiwan yet, so life in China can’t be too unbearable for him.