“If I was playing under an NBA team I would definitely want to play in the D League [rather than play overseas],” Lin said.
Lin received attention from NBA scouts throughout his senior season at Harvard in which he averaged 16.4 points, 4.5 assists, 4.4 rebounds, and 2.4 steals per game in leading the Crimson to its most victories in Harvard history.
But Lin’s stock began to rise at the Portsmouth Invitational Tournament—a tournament for college seniors hoping to play in the NBA—in May at which he averaged 10.3 points and 6.0 assists in three games.
Lin’s performance at the Portsmouth Invititational Tournament and his hiring of Montgomery as an agent helped him land a handful of invitations to compete in a series of workouts against other NBA hopefuls in front of scouts leading up to the 2010 NBA draft.
Lin worked out for at least eight NBA teams, including the Warriors, Lakers, and Mavericks.
Widely considered a borderline second-round pick, Lin went undrafted on June 24 but was still offered a spot on the Mavericks’ summer league roster by Mavericks’ general manager Donnie Nelson following the draft.
Lin’s performance at the NBA Summer League, held in Las Vegas from July 9-18, increased his exposure to NBA scouts and fans alike. In his five games with the Mavericks, Lin came off the bench and averaged 9.8 points, 3.2 rebounds, 1.8 assists, and 1.2 steals in 19 minutes per game.
“I thought the summer league went well and I was able to show my game and be effective,” Lin said. “Overall it helped my stock tremendously. I am definitely happy with how it went.”
While the six-foot-three point guard drew interest from a handful of NBA teams after averaging 8.0 points, 2.3 rebounds, 2.0 assists over the course of the Mavericks’ first three contests, it was Lin’s matchup with Wall that put Lin on every team’s radar.
In the fourth quarter alone, Lin scored 11 points off a series of long balls, dunks, mid-range jump shots, and acrobatic layups. Defensively, Lin forced Wall into taking bad shots and even out jumped the player with a reported 43-inch vertical leap on a jump ball.
But while Lin’s battle with Wall may have proved to scouts, coaches, and fans that he was able to take his game to the next level, Lin does not feel like there was a single moment that made himself believe he was ready for the NBA.
“I think it’s been a gradual process,” Lin said. “Going in I was pretty confident and everything but the more workouts I did and more games I played, I continued to get more and more confident. It wasn’t really one specific moment.”
After Lin concluded the summer league with a 12-point, five-rebound performance, his stock was at a new high. Sources first indicated that the defending-champion Lakers were interested in signing Lin to backup guards Derek Fisher and Kobe Bryant, but it now looks like Lin will be heading be heading to northern California to play for his hometown Warriors.
Golden State is led at the guard position by Monta Elli and Stephen Curry—both of whom averaged over 17 points per game last season—but lacks much depth beyond the pair. Charlie Bell—who has averaged less than 10 points per game throughout his six year NBA career—is the only other true guard signed by the Warriors for the coming season.
By signing with the Warriors, Lin—who is of Taiwanese descent—will move one step closer to becoming just the fourth Asian American to play in the NBA.
Wataru Misaka, a Japanese American born in Utah, was the first Asian American to play in the NBA, as he played in three games for the New York Knicks during the 1947-1948 season. The half-Filipino Raymond Townsend from California was selected in the first round by the Warriors in the 1978 NBA draft. Townsend played in 154 games from 1978 to 1982 and averaged 4.8 points per game.
The most recent Asian American to play in the NBA was the half-Japanese Rex Walters. Walters played in 335 NBA games from 1993 to 2000 with the New Jersey Nets, Philadelphia 76ers, and Miami Heat during which time he averaged 4.6 points per game.