More than a billion dollars in contracts were agreed to in the first 24 hours of the NBA’s new league year, but free agency isn’t a feeding frenzy for all players.
“Every year it gets harder,” free-agent point guard Jeremy Lin said of his uncertain NBA future.
“In English there’s a saying and it says once you hit rock bottom, the only way is up,” an emotional Lin said as part of a motivational speech in Taiwan for Christian outlet GOOD TV. “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.”
The 30-year-old Lin won a championship with the Toronto Raptors this past season following a midseason trade, but averaged just 3.4 minutes in eight total playoff appearances.
“After the season I had to get ready for this Asia trip and it was the last thing I wanted to do,” Lin said. “Because I knew for six weeks I would have to just put on a smile. I would have to talk about a championship that I don’t feel like I really earned. I would have to talk about a [basketball] future I don’t know if I want to have. And honestly it’s just embarrassing. It’s tough.”
Once the talk of New York during the Linsanity craze, Lin has since battled injuries and played for a total of eight different teams in nine seasons.
He’s averaged 11.6 points and 4.3 assists in his career, but has not started more than three games in a season since 2016-17 for the Brooklyn Nets.
Lin’s speech called “The Waiting Game” focused on resilience, and despite the feelings he expressed, Lin offered hope for those that can relate to his issues.
“I’m here to just tell you don’t give up,” Lin said. “For those of you who are working hard but you don’t see results – don’t give up.”