Jeremy Lin spoke it into existence. (h/t PZinger6/Reddit) pic.twitter.com/TxxFPTLoNG
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) 15 June 2019
Source:
https://scmp.com/sport/other-sport/article/3014694/jeremy-lin-predicted-nba-championship-win-back-2011-during Basketball
Jeremy Lin predicted NBA Championship win back in 2011 during ‘Linsanity’ documentary
- Toronto Raptor made career claim back before his breakout with the New York Knicks in 2012
- The 30-year-old made history with first ring after beating the Golden State Warriors
Jeremy Lin celebrates his team’s win over the Golden State Warriors in game six to win the 2019 NBA Finals. Photo: AFP
There was only one person not surprised by Jeremy Lin becoming an NBA champion: Lin himself.
He predicted it six years ago in Linsanity, the documentary on his rise to worldwide stardom at the New York Knicks.
“I always told myself my progression is gonna be become a rotation player, become a starting point guard and then win an NBA championship,” he said.
“And people are definitely going to laugh when they hear that. They’re not going to be laughing if it actually happens.”
Director Evan Jackson Leong’s documentary, released in 2013, chronicles Lin’s career from when he was playing at Harvard until his breakout season in New York in 2012.
The quote comes from the year before that, when Lin was yet to become a first-choice player in New York and the “Linsanity” period of his career where he became the clutch player for an injury hit Knicks side and a global sensation.
His prediction of becoming an NBA champion came right in the end but his has been a stop-start career, with a stint at the Golden State Warriors coming before he moved to New York.
Since leaving the Knicks in 2012 – where he was essentially forced out by Carmelo Anthony – he went to the Houston Rockets but failed to establish himself as a starting point guard in Texas.
The same was true as Lin moved on to the Los Angeles Lakers, Charlotte Hornets, Brooklyn Nets and Atlanta Hawks, with lengthy injuries also curtailing his playing time.
Toronto Raptors’ Kawhi Leonard (right), Pascal Siakam and Jeremy Lin (left) sit on the bench during the play-off series against the Philadelphia 76ers. Photo: AP
He was then signed by the Toronto Raptors earlier this year, with the NBA champions picking him up in February as a backup after he was waived by Atlanta. The rest, as they say, is history.
Lin won the 2019 title with the Raptors after the NBA’s first ever Canadian champions beat the reigning champion Golden State Warriors in six games.
The first Asian-American to get a ring played just one minute of the finals, coming off the bench in game three.
Jeremy Lin consoles Golden State Warriors guard Stephen Curry after the Raptors defeated the Warriors in game six. Photo: AP
This contribution is why Lin was wrong about people “not going to be laughing” if he won a ring.
Social media users have been enjoying it, making light of Lin’s game time and the fact that he has a title while old rivals Chris Paul and Carmelo Anthony do not.
Lin came out and asked people to stop mocking Melo after various memes went viral.
“What happened, happened, but it’s irrelevant now,” Lin said of his old New York Knicks rival.