Background and career
Jeremy Shu-How Lin (Chinese: 林書豪; pinyin: Lín Shūháo; born August 23, 1988) is a Taiwanese and American former professional basketball player. He unexpectedly led a winning turnaround with the New York Knicks of the National Basketball Association (NBA) during the 2011–12 season, sparking a cultural phenomenon known as "Linsanity". Lin is the first American of Chinese or Taiwanese descent to play in the NBA, and is one of the few Asian Americans to have played in the league. He is also the first Asian American player to win an NBA championship, having done so with the Toronto Raptors in 2019. Born to a Taiwanese American family, Lin grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area and earned honors as a senior in high school. After receiving no athletic scholarship offers, he attended Harvard University, where he was a three-time all-conference player in the Ivy League. Undrafted out of college, Lin signed with his hometown Golden State Warriors in 2010. He seldom played in his rookie season and received assignments to the NBA Development League (now NBA G League). In 2011, Lin was waived by both the Warriors and the Houston Rockets before joining the New York Knicks early in 2011–12. At first, Lin played sparingly for the Knicks, and he again spent time in the development league. In February 2012, however, he was promoted to the starting lineup and led the team on a seven-game winning streak. Lin's stellar play during the season helped the Knicks make the 2012 playoffs; it also catapulted him to international fame. Lin appeared on the covers of Sports Illustrated and Time and was named to the Time 100 as one of the most influential people in the world. In July 2012, Lin won the ESPY Award for Breakthrough Athlete of the Year. Following his Knicks tenure, Lin played for the Houston Rockets, Los Angeles Lakers, Charlotte Hornets, Brooklyn Nets, Atlanta Hawks, and Toronto Raptors. While he experienced some success in Houston and Charlotte, he battled injuries in the ensuing seasons. In August 2019, he left the NBA and signed with the Beijing Ducks, where he became an All-Star in the Chinese Basketball Association (CBA). Attempting to return to the NBA, Lin played with the Warriors' development team in 2021. He returned to the CBA and played with the Ducks and later the Guangzhou Loong Lions. He left the Loong Lions midseason in 2022–23 and joined Kaohsiung 17LIVE Steelers of the P. League+ (PLG) in 2023. Lin would lead the PLG in assists that season. He signed with the New Taipei Kings in 2023, winning the PLG championship in 2024 and the Taiwan Professional Basketball League (TPBL) championship in 2025.
Lin was born to a Taiwanese American family in Torrance, California on August 23, 1988. He was raised a Christian in the Bay Area city of Palo Alto, California. His parents, Gie-Ming Lin and Shirley Lin (née Xinxin Wu), emigrated from Taiwan to the United States in the mid-1970s, first settling in Virginia before moving to Indiana, where they both attended universities to study engineering and computer science. They are dual nationals of Taiwan and the U.S. Lin's paternal family are Hoklo people from Beidou, Changhua, Taiwan, while his maternal grandmother emigrated to Taiwan in the late 1940s from Pinghu, Zhejiang, China. Lin's parents are both 5 feet 6 inches (1.68 m) tall. His maternal grandmother's family was tall, and her father was over 6 feet 0 inches (1.83 m). Lin has an older brother, Josh, and a younger brother, Joseph. Gie-Ming taught his sons to play basketball at the local YMCA. Shirley helped form a National Junior Basketball program in Palo Alto where Lin played. She worked with coaches to ensure his playing did not affect his academic performance. She was criticized by her friends for letting Lin play so much basketball, but let him play the game he enjoyed. During his senior year in 2005–06, Lin captained Palo Alto High School—coached by 2006 Cal-Hi Sports State Coach of the Year Peter Diepenbrock—to a 32–1 record and upset the nationally ranked Mater Dei, 51–47, for the California Interscholastic Federation Division II state title. He was named first-team All-State and Northern California Division II Player of the Year, and ended his senior year averaging 15.1 points, 7.1 assists, 6.2 rebounds, and 5.0 steals.
Lin sent his résumé and a DVD of highlights of his high school basketball career to all of the Ivy League schools; the University of California, Berkeley; and his dream schools, Stanford University and the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). The Pac-10 (now Pac-12) schools wanted him to walk on rather than be actively recruited or offered an athletic scholarship. Harvard and Brown were the only teams that guaranteed him a spot on their teams, but Ivy League schools do not offer sports scholarships. University of San Francisco men's basketball coach and retired NBA player Rex Walters said NCAA limits on coaches' recruiting visits had reduced Lin's chances: "Most colleges start recruiting a guy in the first five minutes they see him because he runs really fast, jumps really high, does the quick, easy thing to evaluate". Harvard assistant coach Bill Holden was initially unimpressed with Lin's on-court abilities and told Lin's high school basketball coach, Peter Diepenbrock, that Lin was a "Division III player". Later Holden saw Lin playing in a much more competitive game, driving to the basket at every opportunity with the "instincts of a killer", and he became Harvard's top recruit. Its coaches feared that Stanford—across the street from his high school—would offer Lin a scholarship, but it did not, and Lin chose to attend Harvard. Golden State Warriors owner and Stanford booster Joe Lacob said Stanford's failure to recruit Lin "was really stupid. The kid was right across the street. [If] you can't recognize that, you've got a problem." Kerry Keating, a UCLA assistant who had offered Lin the opportunity to walk on, said in hindsight that Lin would probably have become a starting point guard for UCLA. A Harvard coach remembered Lin in his freshman season as "the [physically] weakest guy on the team", but in his sophomore season (2007–08), Lin averaged 12.6 points and was named to the All-Ivy League Second Team. By his junior year during the 2008–09 season, he was the only NCAA Division I men's basketball player ranked in the top ten in his conference for scoring (17.8), rebounding (5.5), assists (4.3), steals (2.4), blocked shots (0.6), field goal percentage (0.502), free throw percentage (0.744), and three-point shot percentage (0.400), and was a consensus selection for the All-Ivy League First Team. He had 27 points, 6 rebounds, and 8 assists in an 82–70 win over the 17th-ranked Boston College Eagles, three days after the Eagles defeated No. 1 North Carolina. In his senior year (2009–10), Lin averaged 16.4 points, 4.4 rebounds, 4.5 assists, 2.4 steals, and 1.1 blocks, and was again a unanimous selection for the All-Ivy League First Team. He was one of 30 midseason candidates for the John R. Wooden Award and one of 11 finalists for the Bob Cousy Award. He was also invited to the Portsmouth Invitational Tournament. Fran Fraschilla of ESPN named Lin one of the 12 most versatile players in college basketball. Lin gained national attention for his performance against the 12th-ranked Connecticut Huskies, when he scored a career-high 30 points and grabbed 9 rebounds on the road. After the game, Hall of Fame Connecticut coach Jim Calhoun said of Lin: "I've seen a lot of teams come through here, and he could play for any of them. He's got great, great composure on the court. He knows how to play." For the season, Harvard set numerous program records including wins (21), non-conference wins (11), home wins (11) and road/neutral wins (10). Lin finished his career as the first player in the history of the Ivy League to record at least 1,450 points (1,483), 450 rebounds (487), 400 assists (406) and 200 steals (225). He graduated from Harvard in 2010 with a degree in economics and a 3.1 grade-point average.
No team chose Lin in the 2010 NBA draft. Scouts saw what The New York Times later described as "a smart passer with a flawed jump shot and a thin frame, who might not have the strength and athleticism to defend, create his own shot or finish at the rim in the NBA." Lin joined the Dallas Mavericks for mini-camp as well as their NBA Summer League team in Las Vegas. Donnie Nelson of the Mavericks was the only general manager who offered him an invitation to play in the Summer League. "Donnie took care of me," said Lin. "He has a different type of vision than most people do." In five Summer League games, while playing both guard positions, Lin averaged 9.8 points, 3.2 rebounds, and 1.8 assists in 18.6 minutes per game and shot a team-leading 54.5% from the floor. He subsequently received offers from the Mavericks, Golden State Warriors, Los Angeles Lakers, and an unnamed Eastern Conference team.
On July 21, 2010, Lin signed a two-year deal with his hometown Warriors. Lin's deal was partially guaranteed for the 2010–11 NBA season, and the Warriors held a team option for the second season. Lin also signed a three-year guaranteed contract with Nike. The Warriors held a post-signing press conference that drew national media. "It was surprising to see that ... for an undrafted rookie," said then-Warriors coach Keith Smart. The San Jose Mercury News wrote that Lin "had something of a cult following" after his signing. The San Francisco Bay Area, with its large Asian-American population, celebrated his arrival. He became the first American of Chinese or Taiwanese descent to play in the NBA. Lin was appreciative of the support he received from fans, especially from the Asian-American community, but he preferred to concentrate on his play. Lin started the regular season on the Warriors' inactive list, but made his NBA debut the next game during the Warriors' Asian Heritage Night. He received a standing ovation when he entered the game in the final minutes. In the next game against the Los Angeles Lakers, Lin scored his first NBA basket, had three assists, and recorded four steals. He played 11 of his 16 minutes in the third quarter and committed five fouls but played a role in a 12–1 run by the Warriors in a 107–83 loss to the defending NBA champions. At Toronto on November 8, the Raptors held Asian Heritage Night to coincide with Lin's visit with the Warriors. Over 20 members of Toronto's Chinese media covered the game.
Lin received little playing time during the season behind Stephen Curry and Monta Ellis, two dominant ball-handling guards. Three times, he was assigned to the Warriors' NBA Development League (D-League) affiliate, the Reno Bighorns, then later recalled by the Warriors. He competed in the NBA D-League Showcase and was named to the All-NBA D-League Showcase First Team on January 14, 2011. In 20 games, he averaged 18 points, 5.8 rebounds and 4.4 assists with Reno. The Warriors saw Lin as a potential backup for Curry. Lacob said the team received more than one trade offer for Lin while he was in the D-League: "He's a minimum, inexpensive asset. You need to look at him as a developing asset. Is he going to be a superstar? No." He finished his rookie NBA season averaging 2.6 points on 38.9 percent shooting in 29 games.
