The Brooklyn Nets have had plenty of players come through the franchise over the past half-century and some of those players have gone on to do great things in their career. Former NBA guard Jeremy Lin, who spent some time with Brooklyn towards the end of his NBA career, has announced that he is retiring from the game of basketball at 37 years old.
“I’ve spent my 15 year career knowing that one day I would have to walk away, and yet actually saying goodbye to basketball today has been the hardest decision I’ve ever made,” Lin wrote in an Instagram post announcing his retirement. Lin spent nine years in the NBA, including when he played 37 games for the Nets from 2016 to 2018 in which he averaged 14.6 points and 5.1 assists per game.
“So many people have sacrificed and poured into my journey, more than I could ever repay. Thank you all for believing in me, for walking with me, for celebrating my highs and picking me up in my lows,” Lin continued in his post. “This is a ride I never wanted to end but I know it’s time. I will forever miss playing basketball in front of you all but our time will go beyond just playing. Here’s to what’s ahead.”
Lin came into the NBA after going undrafted during the 2010 NBA Draft following a college career at Harvard in which he was one of the best players in the Ivy League for the majority of his collegiate tenure. Lin began his NBA career with the Golden State Warriors in the 2010-11 campaign, but he didn’t on until the following season when he played for the New York Knicks, a campaign in which everyone knew who Lin was.
In what will forever be known as “Linsanity,” Lin averaged 24.6 points, 9.2 assists, and 2.4 steals per game while shooting 49.7% from the field and 35.3% from three-point land in a 10-game span from Feb. 4 to Feb. 20. While Lin was unable to recreate the magic he had during the 2011-12 season with the Knicks, he went on to be productive until the 2018-19 campaign that he finished with the Toronto Raptors.