NBA star Jeremy Lin tells Hong Kong fans at Chinese University about ‘possibly the toughest year of my life’

NBA star Jeremy Lin told an audience for a gospel service at Chinese University on Sunday that this past season with the Los Angeles Lakers was “possibly the toughest year of my life”, but his Christian faith had kept his outlook positive.

The university’s 1,438-seat Sir Run Run Shaw Hall was packed to capacity as students and fans took in advice from the 26-year-old Taiwanese-American basketball player in a session billed as “Linsanity 2.0 – Redefining Success”.

“Nothing went as planned – during the first five games, how many did we win? That’s right, zero,” Lin said. “After 20 games I was benched. We finished the season 21-61, which set a franchise record for the most losses.”

But Lin said that although the season was labelled an absolute disaster, he had thought just the opposite.

“The key to real success isn’t about me – it’s about Jesus,” Lin said. “That’s what I learned in the last season: success doesn’t work around my little circle.

“That was possibly the toughest year of my life. But one thing, to me, was that it really drew me closer to Christ. Sometimes you have to lose something to see and appreciate what you really have.”

During a question-and-answer session, Lin was asked by a father in the audience for advice to help send his son to study at Harvard University, where Lin studied between 2006 and 2010.