Basketball

Jeremy Lin signs deal to continue basketball career with CBA's Beijing Ducks

By Jon Ackerman Aug 27, 2019
Jeremy Lin (AP Photo/Carlos Osorio)

After nine years in the NBA, including “Linsanity” in 2012, Jeremy Lin will continue his career in China. The 31-year-old announced Tuesday that he’ll be joining the Beijing Ducks of the Chinese Basketball Association.

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“All I can say is THANK YOU to the NBA, my family, inner circle, every fan who came to watch or rooted for me during these last 9 years! To challenge stereotypes, make history, rep Asians at the NBA level and pave the path as others have done for me has been an absolute privilege. Im overwhelmed with gratitude for each person who has been with me each step of the way,” Lin wrote. “Equally excited for this next step with the Beijing Ducks! I always knew my path would go through the CBA solely bc I knew how much of an honor it would be to hoop in front of all my Chinese fans. Im here now and there is more history to be made!”

He ended the post with the hashtag, “#glorytoGod.”

Lin certainly made history in the NBA as the first American of Chinese or Taiwanese descent to play in the NBA, and he won an NBA title this past season as a member of the Toronto Raptors.

But for the first time since his rookie season, he averaged less than 20 minutes a game in 2018-19 with Toronto and Atlanta. As a free agent, Lin didn’t garner much interest from NBA teams this summer, and he appeared discouraged during a TV appearance in Taiwan in July.

“In English there’s a saying, and it says once you hit rock bottom, the only way is up,” Lin said to Christian television station GOOD TV, via ESPN. “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.”

After hopping between the G-League and Golden State, the Warriors waived Lin in December 2011. He signed with the New York Knicks two weeks later, and bounced between them and their G-League affiliate. But then on Feb. 4, 2012, Lin was given 35 minutes of game action for the Knicks, and he scored 25 points to go with seven assists. He started New York’s next game — also at home in raucous Madison Square Garden — and scored 28 points with eight assists in 44 minutes. He produced his first double-double (23 points, 10 assists) the next game, which he followed with 38 points and seven assists against Kobe Bryant’s L.A. Lakers.

Linsanity was born. The Knicks won the first seven games in which Lin started or played more than 20 minutes, and he became entrenched as a starter. Lin’s season ended with a knee injury in late March, and he became a free agent after the season, but he had established himself in the NBA.

Lin signed with the Houston Rockets that summer, was traded to the Lakers in 2014, signed with the Charlotte Hornets in 2015, signed with the Brooklyn Nets in 2016, was traded to the Atlanta Hawks in 2018, was waived by the Hawks this past February, and was then picked up by the Raptors for the rest of the season.

Through it all, Lin has leaned on his faith in Christ. The phrase “To know Him is to want to know Him more” is written on both his Twitter page (2.5 million followers) and Instagram page (1.9 million followers).

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