“Basically we were just playing for fun, and for supporting charities,” explains Lin, who entertained the Boston crowd by throwing down a number of dunks and scoring 11 points in a two-minute stretch in the third quarter.
One week later, the lockout had ended, and the guard was ready for year two with the Warriors. Yet the delayed start to the season brought about a brief offseason, forcing teams to make a flurry of roster moves in a short amount of time.
The Warriors needed a center, and after missing out on Tyson Chandler, they decided to pursue the Los Angeles Clippers’ DeAndre Jordan. But Jordan was a restricted free agent, meaning Golden State would have to scrap together every dollar it could find to make the biggest offer possible with the hope that LA would not be able to match.
The team thus looked to cut costs where it could, and after having selected guards Klay Thompson and Charles Jenkins in this past year’s draft, Lin—with a non-guaranteed contract—was expendable.
In a move he says he did not anticipate, Lin was waived by the Warriors on Dec. 11, ending his brief stint with the team. Two of the team’s stars were sad to see him go.
“To my man @jlin7…can't say it enough man your work ethic and skills are gonna pick you right back up…keep the faith bro and keep ya head up,” tweeted Curry.
“Tough day losing one of our teammates @jlin7.. JLin u are a great ball player and unbelievable teammate and person! We will miss u lil bro!” added Lee via Twitter.
Yet at the end of every tunnel is a light, and Lin found his in Houston, where the Rockets claimed him off waivers the next day.
Though Houston already has point guards Kyle Lowry, Johnny Flynn, and Goran Dragic on its roster, the squad was excited by Lin’s potential.
“We have evaluated Jeremy since his time in Harvard and have also tracked his progress with the Golden State Warriors,” Rockets Vice President of Player Personnel Gersson Rosas wrote in an e-mail. “We feel he is an intriguing player with a solid all around game and a high basketball IQ. He plays to his strengths well and is developing at a solid rate.”
Lin says the Rockets have already let him know what they expect from him.
“Just to be a point guard and a shooting guard here in Houston,” Lin explains. “To play both positions, to make plays, bring it on the defensive end, and to be creative on the offensive end. Just the same thing that I’ve been doing.”
Rosas echoed that sentiment.
“Jeremy is competing for the opportunity to make the Houston Rockets roster in the role of backup point guard,” he wrote. “Our objective would be to aid him in his basketball development in what ever manner possible throughout the season.”
One of the few Asian-Americans to play in the NBA, Lin now has the chance to make his name in the city where Yao Ming—who invited Lin to play with him in Taipei in the summer of 2010—starred for nine years.
For now, Lin says he does not feel there is any part of his game that could not use improvement. Barring a trade, he knows it will be an uphill climb to make the Rockets, who currently have one of the deepest rosters in the league.
But challenge is nothing new for Lin, who received no Division I scholarship offers coming out of high school and just one summer league offer coming out of college. The point guard made the best of his opportunities with Harvard and the Mavericks, and now he’s ready to do everything he can in Houston to prove he belongs once again.
“I’m just excited to go somewhere I’m wanted,” he says. “Right now I’m just trying to make the best of the situation. There’s an adjustment process getting comfortable with everything.”
“It’s really early in the whole situation,” he added. “Hopefully it turns out well.”
—Staff writer Scott A. Sherman be reached at ssherman13@college.harvard.edu.