Former NBA guard Jeremy Lin, whose never-before-seen rise to stardom in 2012 was dubbed “Linsanity,” announced Saturday he is retiring from professional basketball.
The 37-year-old’s NBA career is best remembered for his time with the New York Knicks – specifically, a span of about three weeks in February 2012 during which he went from an unknown face at the end of the bench to the hottest name in the league.
With head coach Mike D’Antoni searching for a spark amid a 2-11 stretch, he resorted to Lin – the fourth point guard in the rotation at the time – during a Feb. 4 matchup against the New Jersey Nets. The Harvard product made an immediate impact in his extended minutes; Lin, who had averaged just 3.6 points and 6.1 minutes in nine games before then, finished with 25 points, seven assists, and five rebounds, leading New York to a 99-92 victory.