Jeremy Lin says NBA dream and ‘Linsanity’ was funded by mother’s retirement savings
- Free agent tells Ellen DeGeneres of sacrifices made by family, including unemployed mother risking her 401(k) retirement savings
- The 32-year-old also recalls first time he experienced racism on the court amid rise of anti-Asian sentiment in the US
NBA free agent Jeremy Lin has told how his mother helped to fund his NBA dream the first time around, giving him two years to make the league after graduating from Harvard.
Speaking to the Ellen DeGeneres Show, Lin explained that his mother Shirley made a huge financial sacrifice to allow him to pursue his dream of NBA stardom.
“The craziest story is just that when I graduated from Harvard, I went to decide to pursue professional basketball,” Lin told DeGeneres. “My mom at that time knew I wasn’t eating until I was full because I was trying to save money for us – because of the tuition and everything.
“She said, ‘I’m going to give you two years to chase your basketball dream. Don’t worry about the money. I’ve got some money’,” the 32-year-old said.
“She didn’t tell me until a few years ago that that money came out of her 401(k),” Lin said, referring to her retirement savings.