In July 2012, Jeremy Lin arrived in Houston riding the wave of “Linsanity.” About twelve months later, the magic was gone.
At that time, speaking to 20,000 at a youth conference in Taipei, Taiwan’s capital, Lin offered a rare, unfiltered glimpse into how the excitement unraveled.
The rise and burden of Linsanity
A bidding war erupted in the summer of 2012, with the Rockets emerging victorious to sign Lin. He secured a three-year, $25 million deal — a contract Carmelo Anthony, Jeremy’s former New York Knicks teammate, found so overpaid he called it ridiculous.
The deal alone brought massive expectations for one of the league’s hottest names at the time. But Lin — who played his final NBA game in 2019 — said the pressure went far deeper.
“I was ready to invigorate the entire city of Houston,” he recalled, per ESPN. “I was supposed to save Houston basketball.”
Still, the heaviest burden wasn’t about delivering a playoff breakthrough for a Rockets team that had seen several first-round exits since the start of the decade. It was something else, summed up in one word: Linsanity.
Linsanity began in 2011-12, when the California native unexpectedly jumped from the D League (now G League) to the NBA’s biggest stage.
After limited minutes early in the season, Lin erupted for 25 points against the New Jersey Nets in February 2012. That breakout earned him a starting role and sparked a remarkable streak, averaging 18.5 points and 7.7 assists per contest while delivering clutch game-winners.
Naturally, the now 36-year-old aimed to build on his global sensation status with the Rockets — a huge goal that carried even greater pressure. Too great, in hindsight.
“I became so obsessed with becoming a great basketball player… trying to be Linsanity, being this phenomenon that took the NBA by storm,” he reflected.
The Houston struggle
It’s clear that neither Lin nor Houston’s coaching staff, led by Kevin McHale, saw their expectations fulfilled — and just as clear that public scrutiny wasn’t far behind.
“The coaches were losing faith in me; basketball fans were making fun of me,”Jeremy said. “I was supposed to be joyful and free, but what I experienced was the opposite. I had no joy, and I felt no freedom.”
Both the eye test and the stats told the same story.
The playmaker struggled, averaging 13.4 points and 6.1 assists per game during his first season in H-Town. It certainly wasn’t the next step he hoped for, and to make matters worse, injuries sidelined him for two games during the Rockets’ playoff loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder. It was a reality check for the future NBA champion with the Toronto Raptors.
“The one thing I learned was how empty fame and worldly success really are… The desire for success never stopped,”he remarked.”If the voice that you listen to the most isn’t God’s voice, then eventually you will experience that emptiness, confusion and misery that I felt when I listened to the voice of Linsanity.”
For some, Lin is the classic one-hit wonder — rising quickly during his Knicks peak before reality set in. Others view his two years in Houston and one season with the Los Angeles Lakers differently, recognizing that, given the circumstances, Jeremy still delivered solid performances and made the most of his chances when given the lead.