Jeremy Lin ‘crazy’ to swap China cash for NBA dream
- ‘They treated me like a rock star out there,’ star says of season with Beijing Ducks in Chinese Basketball Association
- NBA champion’s G League season with the Santa Cruz Warriors set to start next month
“They treated me like a rock star out there,” Lin said of his season in China with the Beijing Ducks in an interview with The San Francisco Chronicle’s Connor LeTourneau published on Friday. “It was a pretty surreal experience.”
“To surrender all of that and to come here, honestly, some people think I’m crazy.”
His popularity only grew last season which he spent with the Ducks, who he took to the CBA play-offs for the first time since 2016 while leading the team with 22.3 points and 5.6 assists per game.
Jeremy Lin tells Chinese fans ‘I’ll be back some day’
The 32-year-old appealed to basketball fans across the board, leading the North in votes for the CBA All-Star game and finishing second overall to CBA superstar Yi Jianlian.
Lin is set to meet up with his new teammates next week and is training in the meantime. He updated his Weibo on Saturday to tell fans of his progress, just as he has done since announcing his intention to swap China for another shot at the NBA.
“The last few days of the off-season. Calm down and concentrate on training. I‘m ready,” he wrote with pictures of him working out on the court.
His dream remains to play in the NBA again, as he reiterated to the San Francisco Chronicle.
“I truly believe that I’m an NBA player, but I’m not in it for the money, the clout, the fame or any of that,” Lin said. “I want to be able to make a difference. I want to bring glory to God through basketball.”
