Jeremy Lin, the NBA sensation whose incredible play in 2012 ignited the “Linsanity” mania, recently won his first NBA title.
Lin has been a free agent since the NBA 2019 Championship, though. He claimed to have reached “rock bottom” during free agency in a recent interview.
Lin has had a difficult few years due to numerous injuries and poor play. It may be evidenced by his diminishing net worth, which was projected to be $36.0 million in 2019. Here is how Jeremy Lin went from being an NBA hero to supposedly hitting rock bottom.
Lin Gie-ming and Shirley Lin welcomed Jeremy Lin into the world in Torrance, Los Angeles County, on August 23, 1988. His parents are dual citizens of the United States and Taiwan; they left Taiwan in the 1970s.
While his mother’s family is from mainland China, Lin’s paternal line is descended from the Hoklo people of Taiwan. His mother assisted Lin in juggling his academic goals with his basketball aspirations while his father taught him how to play basketball.
He continued playing, breaking multiple records at Harvard. He trained with the Dallas Mavericks Summer League club despite not having his name taken in the 2010 NBA Draft by any team.
Lin was hesitant to play abroad because he had no imminent NBA offers. When the Mavericks, Los Angeles Lakers, and Golden State Warriors, among other teams, indicated their interest in him following his Summer League performance, he was about to consider a career outside of basketball.
In 2010, Lin agreed to a two-year contract with the Warriors of his hometown. The agreement included a $50,000 first-year pay guarantee. Although other teams had offered him a higher salary, he choose to play for his hometown team.
Later, in 2011, he joined the New York Knicks, where he would go on to have his most memorable performance. Lin was a key player in the New York Knicks winning streak in the 2012 season.
He oversaw the Knicks’ stunning comeback after they had dropped 11 of their previous 13 games.
When Lin hit a clutch three-pointer to win a game, NBA veteran Metta World Peace started screaming “Linsanity,” which spread throughout the world.
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Lin agreed to a four-year, $25.0 million deal with the Houston Rockets after his outstanding play with the Knicks. He has, however, had trouble with uneven court performances over the years.
He joined the Lakers in 2014, but struggled to adjust to the new style of play and had much of his playing time cut back. The Charlotte Hornets signed him to a two-year, $4.3 million contract the following season.
Lin agreed to a three-year, $36.0 million deal with the Brooklyn Nets instead of exercising his $2.2 million player option. However, due to a string of ailments throughout his time with the Nets, he was traded to the Atlanta Hawks in 2018.
He was waived by the Hawks and signed by the Toronto Raptors, however due to injuries, he saw no action in the 2019 NBA Playoffs. In this year’s NBA Finals, he hardly played any time at all.
Lin became the first Asian-American to own an NBA Championship ring after the Raptors won the 2019 NBA Championship, the first for the franchise. Many believe he doesn’t merit it. For his small involvement in the Raptors’ victory, Lin acknowledged that he felt upset and questioned if he deserved the ring.
Analysts, however, noted that he had fought against all obstacles to get there and that his efforts had been successful. NBA observers also think Lin adds value by mentoring younger players in strategy.
In 2012, while his career was at its height, Lin’s net worth was reported to be a staggering $170.0 million. That year, his pay was not too high. But because of him and his outstanding play, Knicks ticket sales went up, and he drove up the stock prices of companies connected to him.
His shirt continues to be purchased all around the world and was one of the most popular in the league in 2012. The players do not, however, directly profit from the sale of the jerseys; instead, the team as a whole receives a portion of the revenue.
Since the 2019 title, Lin has been an unsigned free agent. He is a well-liked player, but he is still unsigned and not receiving any offers.
Lin remarked in a tearful interview about his impending free agency, “Every year it gets harder. And there is a proverb in English that states that once you hit rock bottom, there is only one direction to go: up. But for me, the bottom simply seems to keep getting deeper and deeper. Free agency has so proven challenging. Because I feel like the NBA has kind of given up on me in certain ways.
Here is a chart showing Jeremy Lin’s earnings over time.
Team | Season | Salary |
Golden State Warriors | 2010-11 | $473,604 |
New York Knicks | 2011-12 | $762,195 |
Houston Rockets | 2012-13 | $5.0 million |
Houston Rockets | 2013-14 | $5.2 million |
L.A. Lakers | 2014-15 | $14.8 million |
Charlotte Hornets | 2015-16 | $2.13 million |
Brooklyn Nets | 2016-17 | $11.4 million |
Brooklyn Nets | 2017-18 | $12.0 million |
Brooklyn Nets | 2018-19 | $1.2 million |
Atlanta Hawks | 2018-19 | $11.8 million |
Toronto Raptors | 2018-19 | $697,358 |
Total Career Earnings | 9 seasons | $65.7 million |
Lin has gained international notoriety from the beginning of his career. Jeremy Lin has gained widespread recognition in sports thanks to the “Linsanity” craze, a well-liked YouTube channel, and a well-received movie.
When he joined the Warriors in 2010, he had already secured a three-year Nike endorsement agreement. He joined Adidas in 2014 after the agreement expired, and he is still on their squad today. In an effort to increase their sales in the Asian markets, Jeremy Lin clothing was introduced by both Nike and Adidas.
Throughout his career, Lin has also supported Steiner Sports and Volvo.
However, it makes sense that he would serve as the face of numerous brands given his popularity. He did receive offers, especially following the Linsanity boom.
Lin, who prioritizes being a basketball player, has chosen not to capitalize on his notoriety as Linsanity. He also ignores the racial profiling that has followed him throughout his career because of this thinking. His main focus has been on improving as a basketball player, not on making money for himself.
Jeremy Lin creative outlet is his YouTube channel, which has over 688K subscribers and funny sketches. His commercialized films bring in an estimated $27,000 per year in advertising revenue, which he uses to support the Jeremy Lin Foundation’s charitable endeavors.
Lin made smart economic decisions during the height of his career, similar to most athletes who are developing their brands and making investments in their post-basketball futures.
He contributed to a $4.0 million seed investment in NEX Team in 2018. That amounts to a tiny portion of the $15.0 million he assisted in investing in Plays.tv in 2017.
The HomeCourt app, created by NEX Team, employs AI to monitor and assess players’ abilities and aids in their development. The Lin-backed app recently received the NBA’s strategic partnership, $8.5 million in funding for 2019, as well as contributions from Mark Cuban, Steve Nash, and Will Smith’s Dreamers Fund.
Lin also has a foundation that oversees all of his commercial and charitable endeavors. In the foundation, he and his brother are business partners, while his mother serves as executive director. One of the foundation’s branches is run by his father.
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