Former NBA point guard Jeremy Lin discussed the end of his tenure with the New York Knicks as well as his relationship with former star forward Carmelo Anthony on Tuesday.<\/p>\n
“For me, it was kind of difficult,” Lin said during an appearance on Pablo Torre Finds Out (27:53 mark). “Just to see that people thought I willingly left the Knicks or I did it for the money or whatever and I’m just like, ‘Man, I would have played for significantly less if that meant staying with the Knicks.’ Significantly less because my heart was always here.”<\/p>\n
Lin also revealed that he had a recent discussion with Anthony.<\/p>\n
“Very recent news but I was able to have a good conversation with Carmelo Anthony because of the current Knicks stretch,” Lin told Torre (25:38 mark). “We talked a lot about things that happened and we were able to have a very good clear the air discussion privately.”<\/p>\n
Lin previously stood out for the Knicks during the 2011-12 season, stepping into their starting point guard role and thriving in a stretch commonly referred to as “Linsanity.”<\/p>\n
He averaged 18.2 points and 7.7 assists to go along with 3.7 rebounds per game as a starter, shooting 44.5 percent from the field and 34.3 percent from behind the arc.<\/p>\n
While Lin helped lead the Knicks to the playoffs that year, he was presented with an offer sheet of three years and $25 million from the Houston Rockets in restricted free agency during the ensuing offseason.<\/p>\n
New York chose not to match the offer, as Lin headed to the Rockets.<\/p>\n
It’s worth noting that his emergence with the Knicks came as Anthony was sidelined due to an injury.<\/p>\n
Former point guard Baron Davis, who was teammates with Lin and Anthony during the 2011-12 season,\u00a0revealed in 2023<\/a>\u00a0that there was tension between the two players following the latter’s return from the injury.<\/p>\n Still, it appears as though Lin and Anthony have settled their differences during the Knicks’ current playoff run.<\/p>\n