Jeremy Lin

To his disappointment, no team chose Lin in the 2010 NBA draft.[38] Scouts saw what The New York Times later described as "a smart passer with a flawed jump shot and a thin frame, who might not have the strength and athleticism to defend, create his own shot or finish at the rim in the N.B.A."[30] Lin joined the Dallas Mavericks for mini-camp as well as their NBA Summer League team in Las Vegas.[39] Donnie Nelson of the Mavericks was the only general manager who offered him an invitation to play in the Summer League. "Donnie took care of me," said Lin. "He has a different type of vision than most people do."[24]

In five Summer League games, while playing both guard positions, Lin averaged 9.8 points, 3.2 rebounds, and 1.8 assists in 18.6 minutes per game and shot a team-leading 54.5% from the floor.[40][41] Following the Summer League, he received offers from the Mavericks, Los Angeles Lakers, Golden State Warriors, and an unnamed Eastern Conference team.[42]

Lin at Warriors practice in 2010

On July 21, 2010, Lin signed a two-year deal with his hometown Warriors. Lin's deal was partially guaranteed for the 2010–11 NBA season, and the Warriors held a team option for the second season.[43] Lin also signed a three-year guaranteed contract with Nike.[44]

The Warriors held a press conference for Lin after his signing, with national media in attendance. "It was surprising to see that ... for an undrafted rookie," said then-Warriors coach Keith Smart.[45] The San Jose Mercury News wrote that Lin "had something of a cult following" after his signing.[46] The San Francisco Bay Area, with its large Asian-American population, celebrated his arrival.[47] He became the first American of Chinese or Taiwanese descent to play in the NBA.[47][48][49]

Lin was appreciative of the support he received from fans, especially from the Asian-American community, but he preferred to concentrate on his play.[6] Lin received little playing time during the season because two dominant ball-handling guards, Curry and Monta Ellis, starred for the Warriors.[50] Lin started the regular season on the Warriors' inactive list,[51] but made his NBA debut the next game during the Warriors' Asian Heritage Night. He received a standing ovation when he entered the game in the final minutes.[52][53] In the next game against the Los Angeles Lakers, Lin scored his first NBA basket, had three assists, and recorded four steals. He played 11 of his 16 minutes in the third quarter and committed five fouls but played a role in a 12–1 run by the Warriors in a 107–83 loss to the defending NBA champions.[54][55] At Toronto on November 8, the Raptors held Asian Heritage Night to coincide with Lin's visit with the Warriors. Over 20 members of Toronto's Chinese media covered the game.[56][57]

Lin prior to a game in 2010

Three times during the season, Lin was assigned to the Warriors' D-League affiliate, the Reno Bighorns.[58][59][60] Each time, he was later recalled by the Warriors.[61][62][63] He competed in the NBA D-League Showcase and was named to the All-NBA D-League Showcase First Team on January 14, 2011. In 20 games, he averaged 18 points, 5.8 rebounds and 4.4 assists with Reno.[30]

The Warriors saw Lin as a potential backup for Curry.[30] Lacob said the team received more than one trade offer for Lin while he was in the D-League, adding: "He's a minimum, inexpensive asset. You need to look at him as a developing asset. Is he going to be a superstar? No."[64] He finished his rookie NBA season averaging 2.6 points on 38.9 percent shooting in 29 games.[65]

Lin recovered from a patellar ligament injury to his knee during the 2011 NBA lockout.[66] In September 2011, Lin played a few games for the Chinese Basketball Association (CBA) club Dongguan Leopards at the ABA Club Championship in Guangzhou, China, where he was named the MVP of the tournament.[67]

Lin worked to improve his jump shot during the offseason by abandoning the shooting form he had used since the eighth grade. He also increased his strength, doubling the weight he could squat (from 110 pounds (50 kg) to 231 (105)) and almost tripling the number of pull-ups that he could do (from 12 to 30).[66] He increased his body weight from 200 pounds (91 kg) to 212 (96)—including 15 pounds (6.8 kg) of muscle—added 3.5 inches (8.9 cm) to his standing vertical jump and 6 inches (15 cm) to his running vertical jump, and improved his lateral quickness by 32 percent.[30][68] Due to the lockout, he never got a chance to work out for new Warriors coach Mark Jackson.[69] On the first day of training camp on December 9, 2011, the Warriors waived Lin.

Lin was claimed off of waivers by the Houston Rockets on December 12, 2011[70] and played seven minutes in two pre-season games in Houston. Houston already had point guards Kyle Lowry, Goran Dragić and Jonny Flynn, and all three had guaranteed contracts.[71][72] The Rockets waived Lin on December 24, before the start of the season, to clear payroll to sign center Samuel Dalembert.[50][73]

Lin after his first game for the Knicks in December 2011

The New York Knicks waived point guard Chauncey Billups for cap space to sign center Tyson Chandler.[74] On December 27, after an injury to guard Iman Shumpert, the team claimed Lin off of waivers to be a backup behind Toney Douglas and Mike Bibby. Recently signed guard Baron Davis had also been injured, and was weeks away from being able to play.[50][75][76] Because of the lockout, coaches had little opportunity to see Lin's play, and placed him fourth on the point guard depth chart.[30] Lin stated that he was "competing for a backup spot", adding that people saw him "as the 12th to 15th guy on the roster";[46] he continued to arrive first at practice and leave last, intensely studying game film, and working with coaches to improve his footwork and judgment.[30] Lin made his season debut with the Knicks on the road against the Warriors, where he was cheered in his return to Oracle Arena.[77] In January, Lin was assigned to the Erie BayHawks of the D-League,[78] and on January 20, he scored a triple-double with 28 points, 11 rebounds, and 12 assists in the BayHawks' 122–113 victory over the Maine Red Claws.[79] Three days later, Lin was recalled by the Knicks,[80] but was so fearful of being cut again that he asked a chaplain at a pregame prayer service to pray for him.[81]

On January 28, Davis postponed his Knicks debut due to an elbow infection and back pain.[82][83] Contemplating signing another player, the Knicks were considering releasing Lin.[83] However, after New York squandered a fourth quarter lead in a February 3 loss to the Boston Celtics, coach Mike D'Antoni—in desperation, according to experts—decided to give Lin a chance to play.[83] "He got lucky because we were playing so bad", said the coach;[83] three point guards had failed to run D'Antoni's offense, and fans demanded the team fire him.[74] Lin had played only 55 minutes through the Knicks' first 23 games, and the team had lost 11 of its last 13 games; however, he unexpectedly led a Knicks resurgence.[84][85][86]

On February 4, against the New Jersey Nets and All-Star guard Deron Williams, Lin had 25 points, five rebounds, and seven assists—all career highs—in a 99–92 Knicks victory. Teammate Carmelo Anthony suggested to D'Antoni at halftime that Lin should play more in the second half. After the game, D'Antoni said Lin had a point-guard mentality and "a rhyme and a reason for what he is doing out there".[87][88][89] In the subsequent game against the Utah Jazz, Lin made his first career start, playing without stars Anthony (who left the game due to injury) and Amar'e Stoudemire (whose older brother had died). Upon Lin's promotion to the starting lineup, the Knicks went on a seven-game winning streak.[90] Lin had 28 points and eight assists in the Knicks' 99–88 win.[91][92] Stoudemire and Anthony missed the next three and seven games, respectively.[89][92] D'Antoni stated after the Jazz game that he intended to ride Lin—still not in the media guide—"like freakin' Secretariat".[93][94]

In a 107–93 win over the Washington Wizards, Lin played against John Wall and had 23 points and 10 assists, his first double-double.[96] On February 10, Lin scored a new career-high 38 points and had seven assists, leading the Knicks in their 92–85 victory over the Los Angeles Lakers. He outscored the Lakers' Kobe Bryant, who had 34 points.[97][98] The New York Times wondered if Lin was "the Knicks’ grandest stroke of fortune" since drafting Patrick Ewing in the 1985 NBA Draft.[99] On February 11, Lin scored 20 points and had eight assists in a narrow 100–98 victory over the Minnesota Timberwolves, making a go-ahead free throw with 4.9 seconds left in the game.[100] Lin was named the Eastern Conference Player of the Week after averaging 27.3 points, 8.3 assists and 2.0 steals in four starts; the Knicks went undefeated during those four games.[101]

On February 14, with less than a second remaining in the game, Lin made a game-winning three-pointer in the Knicks' 90–87 win over Toronto.[92] The basket so amazed the Lakers watching on television that veteran player Metta World Peace ran past reporters shouting "Linsanity! Linsanity!" and waving his hands above his head.[102][103] Lin became the first NBA player to score at least 20 points and have seven assists in each of his first five starts.[104] Lin scored a total of 89, 109, and 136 points in his first three, four, and five career starts, respectively; all three totals are the most by any player since the merger between the American Basketball Association (ABA) and the NBA in 1976–77.[105][106][107]

Lin passing against the Sacramento Kings

In the following game against the Sacramento Kings, Lin recorded 13 assists and led the Knicks back to a .500 record with a 100–85 win.[108] The team's seven-game winning streak ended in an 89–85 loss to the New Orleans Hornets; Lin scored 26 points, but had nine turnovers. His 45 turnovers in his first seven career starts were the most since individual turnovers began being tracked in 1977–78.[109]

On February 19, in a 104–97 win against the Mavericks, Lin scored 28 points and tallied career highs with 14 assists and five steals. USA Today wrote: "No matter what Dallas threw at Lin – double-teams, traps, blitzes, tall defenders ... smaller defenders ... stocky, thin – Lin found a way ... to a victory against the defending NBA champions".[110] He did not do as well against the Miami Heat, shooting one for 11 from the field and committing eight turnovers. LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, Chris Bosh, and the rest of the eventual NBA champions focused their entire defense on Lin, an experience he described as "flattering—and terrifying ... I felt like they were all like hawks circling me and staring".[111]

The craze surrounding Lin's sudden ascendancy became known as "Linsanity". In his 12 starts before the All-Star break, Lin averaged 22.5 points and 8.7 assists per game, and New York had a 9–3 record.[112] He played in the Rising Stars Challenge during NBA All-Star Weekend.[113] He was omitted from the original Rising Stars roster, but was added after his sudden ascent to stardom.[114] Some media outlets—including USA Today, Los Angeles Times, and CBSSports.com—stated that he deserved to play in the All-Star Game.[115][116][117]

Lin in March 2012

In March, the Knicks replaced D'Antoni with coach Mike Woodson, who ran fewer pick-and rolls and more isolation plays. Lin had excelled at running pick-and-rolls under D'Antoni.[118] After a March 24 game against the Detroit Pistons, Lin complained about a sore knee, and an MRI later revealed a small meniscus tear in the left knee. Lin opted to have knee surgery and missed the remainder of the regular season.[119][120] He averaged 18.5 points and 7.6 assists during his 26 games as an everyday player;[121] during that period, the team went 16–10.[122] The Knicks finished the season with a 36–30 record and earned the seventh seed in the Eastern Conference playoffs.[123] Without the injured Lin,[124] they were defeated by the eventual NBA champion[125] Miami Heat in the first round of the playoffs in five games.[126] Lin finished sixth in voting for the NBA Most Improved Player Award.[127]

Lin became a restricted free agent at the end of the season.[82] The New York Times called Lin "[the Knicks'] most popular player in a decade" and asserted that he had saved the team's season.[128] However, his success over only 26 games left teams uncertain about his overall standing among the league's point guards; some still believed Lin was a bench player.[121]

In July 2016, former Knicks coach Mike D'Antoni recalled that some players on the Knicks resented Lin during the Linsanity period, an account corroborated by Lin's former Knicks teammate Amar'e Stoudemire.[129][130]

Lin and Chandler Parsons on the Houston bench

During the 2012 offseason, the Knicks encouraged Lin to seek other offers, but he and the press expected that the team would re-sign him given its need for a young guard, his good play, and worldwide popularity; ESPN reported that the Knicks would match any other offer "up to $1 billion".[111] The Rockets offered a $28.8 million contract over four years with the fourth year of that deal being at the team's option, which put the true commitment at $19.5 million.[131] Woodson said the Knicks would match Houston's offer and that Lin would be his starting point guard.[131] The Rockets then offered a revised three-year, $25 million deal, which Anthony called "ridiculous".[132][133] The Knicks did not match the deal, and Lin deduced the team's decision when they signed Raymond Felton instead.[111] The first two years of Houston's offer paid $5 million and $5.225 million, respectively, followed by $14.8 million in the third year.[134] The higher salary in the final year, known as a "poison pill", was intended to discourage New York from matching the offer.[135] Their failure to match the offer surprised observers, given the team's history of high payrolls; Lin would have been the fourth-highest-paid Knick.[111]

The Rockets made Lin the center of both their preseason "A New Age" publicity campaign as well as their initial ads on Comcast SportsNet Houston.[136] Coming off his "Linsanity" performance in New York, Houston coach Kevin McHale said the expectations of Lin were undue. McHale said the public believed Lin would "average 28 [points] and 11 [assists]", but he had never played a whole 82-game season before.[137] Shortly before their regular-season opener in October, the Rockets acquired James Harden, who supplanted Lin as the face of the team.[136][138] Harden was a ball-dominant, pick-and-roll player like Lin,[139] and McHale chose to have the offense run through the more-proven Harden.[140][141]

Lin struggled at the beginning of the season and began losing playing time to backup Toney Douglas. With Harden sitting out due to injury on December 10, Lin scored 38 points in a 134–126 overtime loss to the San Antonio Spurs. The performance was reminiscent of his play during Linsanity.[142][143] Numbers through the season suggested that Harden and Lin were more productive individually with the other on the bench.[140] "I'll be my harshest critic but I'll go ahead and say it: I'm doing terrible," Lin said before facing the Knicks in his first game back in New York.[140] On December 17, Houston defeated the Knicks 109–96, handing the Knicks their first home loss in 11 games. Lin had 22 points and nine assists. He was cheered in pregame introductions, but was booed after the game began.[144]

Rockets coach Kevin McHale speaks to Lin (No. 7) and his teammates during the 2013 NBA playoffs

Lin did not play in the 2013 All-Star Game, held in Houston, after finishing third behind Bryant and Chris Paul in the voting for guards of the Western Conference.[lower-alpha 1] He was selected instead to compete in the Skills Challenge during All-Star Weekend.[146] His scoring, shooting percentage, and 3-point percentage improved after the All-Star break,[138] and in February 2013, The New York Times reported that he was "fitting in well" with the Rockets.[147] Lin finished the season with averages of 13.4 points and 6.1 assists per game.[137] Houston qualified for the playoffs, but lost in the first round in six games to the No. 1 seed Oklahoma City Thunder. Lin suffered a bruised chest in Game 2, which limited him in Game 3 and sidelined him for the two games after.[148] He returned for the final game, coming off the bench for three points in 13 minutes.[138]

In 2013–14, Lin was replaced in the Rockets' starting lineup by Patrick Beverley. Lin became the second unit's primary ball handler and scoring option as the team's sixth man.[149][150][151] In November, Lin established the highest two-game scoring total of his career, 65 points, including season-highs of 34 points and 11 assists along with a Rockets record-tying nine three-pointers in a start in place of an injured Harden.[152][153] Lin followed this with a 21-point performance in a win at New York.[152] On November 27, Lin sprained his right knee against the Atlanta Hawks; he missed six games with the injury.[154][155] He missed four additional games in December due to back spasms.[156] On February 1, 2014, Lin recorded 15 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists—his first career triple-double—in 29 minutes off the bench in a 106–92 home victory over the Cleveland Cavaliers.[157] However, he went into a shooting slump after the All-Star break,[158] and again experienced problems with his back.[159][160]

Lin finished the season with 33 starts and averages of 12.5 points and 4.1 assists per game along with career highs in field goal percentage (44.6%), three-point percentage (35.8%), and free throw percentage (82.3%).[136][161] In the playoffs, Lin averaged 11.3 points off the bench as Houston lost in six games to the Portland Trail Blazers.[136] He scored 21 points in a Game Five win that extended the Rockets' season.[153] During the offseason, the Rockets pursued Lin's former Knicks teammate Anthony in free agency and showed images outside of its arena of Anthony in a Houston jersey bearing Lin's No. 7.[162][163]

Lin defending against John Wall of the Washington Wizards

On July 13, 2014, Lin was traded, along with a 2015 first and second round pick, to the Los Angeles Lakers in exchange for the rights to Serhiy Lishchuk.[164] The Rockets made the move to clear cap space in their attempt to sign free agent Chris Bosh.[165] He shot a career-high 36.9 percent on his three-pointers during the season,[166] but his role was undefined with the Lakers, who were just 21–61 in his only season with the team.[167]

Lin moved into the starting lineup late in the preseason after an injury to Ronnie Price, and he started the first 20 games of the season.[168] However, he struggled in coach Byron Scott's offense, which was based on the methodical player and ball movement of the Princeton offense. Lin was most comfortable dominating the ball while attacking off the pick-and-roll as he did in New York and Houston.[94][168] After the team's poor 5–15 start, Scott attempted to improve the Lakers' poor defense by moving Lin to the bench in favor of the journeyman Price.[169][170][171] Lin was disappointed in the demotion, calling it "one of the toughest situations I've been in".[172][173] On January 23, 2015, Scott promoted rookie Jordan Clarkson to start over Price and chose not to play a healthy Lin in a blowout loss to San Antonio.[174][175] Lin had previously played in each game of the season, averaging 10.5 points and 4.5 assists in 43 games.[176] It was the first time he was healthy and did not play since February 2, 2012, two days before he logged then-career highs against New Jersey at the dawn of Linsanity.[171][174] After Lin scored a season-high 29 on March 22 in a win over Philadelphia, Scott returned him to the starting lineup.[177] On March 24, Lin and teammate Clarkson, who is part Filipino, became the first Asian Americans to start together in the backcourt in NBA history.[178] Lin missed the last five games of the season due to an upper respiratory infection.[179]

An image of Lin on a pillar at Time Warner Cable Arena

On July 9, 2015, Lin signed a two-year, $4.3 million contract with the Charlotte Hornets, who used their bi-annual exception in the deal.[180][181] He had been open to re-joining New York, but they were not interested, having drafted guard Jerian Grant to pair with veteran José Calderón at point guard.[139] Lin was projected to back up Hornets point guard Kemba Walker, and coach Steve Clifford envisioned that the two pick-and-roll players would sometimes play together.[182][183]

Lin made his debut for the Hornets in the team's season opener against the Miami Heat on October 28, scoring 17 points off the bench in a 104–94 loss.[184] On December 17, he scored a season-high 35 points in a 109–99 overtime win over Toronto Raptors.[185] On March 21, 2016, he scored 15 of his 29 points in the fourth quarter, including the go-ahead jumper with 48 seconds remaining, to help Charlotte rally from a 30–7 deficit in the second quarter for a 91–88 comeback victory over San Antonio.[186] Lin's only season with the Hornets came to an end after they were defeated in seven games by the Heat in the first round of the playoffs.[166] He finished seventh in voting for the NBA Sixth Man of the Year Award.[166]

After declining his $2.2 million player option for the 2016–17 season, Lin became an unrestricted free agent on July 1, 2016.[187]

On July 7, 2016, Lin signed a three-year, $36 million contract with the Brooklyn Nets.[188][189] The Nets were led by head coach Kenny Atkinson, who was an assistant with the Knicks during Linsanity.[166] Lin made his debut for the Nets in their season opener on October 26, 2016, in an away game against the Boston Celtics. In 27 minutes as a starter, he scored 18 points in a 122–117 loss.[190] Two days later, he recorded a near triple-double with 21 points, nine rebounds, and nine assists in a 103–94 home-opener win over the Indiana Pacers.[191] On December 12, 2016, he returned to action for Brooklyn for the first time since November 2, when he had suffered a strained left hamstring. He played 20 minutes off the bench and scored 10 points in a 122–118 loss to the Houston Rockets.[192] On February 24, 2017, Lin was back in the starting lineup for the Nets after missing 26 games with his hamstring strain. He played just under 15 minutes and scored seven points with five assists in a 129–109 loss to the Denver Nuggets.[193] On April 6, 2017, he scored a season-high 32 points in a 115–107 loss to the Orlando Magic.[194] He ended the injury-plagued season with a total of only 36 games played, averaging 14.5 points and 5.1 assists per game.[195]

On October 18, 2017, during the Nets' season opener against the Indiana Pacers, Lin was injured when he landed awkwardly following a layup. He suffered a ruptured patellar tendon in his right knee and missed the remainder of the season.[196]

On July 13, 2018, Lin was traded to the Atlanta Hawks, along with draft picks, in exchange for the draft rights to Isaia Cordinier and a future second-round pick.[197] The Hawks acquired him to be a mentor for rookie point guard Trae Young, who was the No. 5 overall pick in the draft.[198][199] On February 11, 2019, the Hawks waived Lin after finalizing a buyout.[200][201]

After clearing waivers, Lin signed with the Toronto Raptors on February 13, 2019,[202] joining a playoff contender.[203] The Raptors were expecting backup point guard Fred VanVleet to be out with an injury for three weeks and had recently traded guard Delon Wright.[203] Lin struggled with the Raptors, averaging 7 points and 2.2 assists. During the playoffs, he was limited to playing in garbage time as the Raptors relied on Kyle Lowry and VanVleet.[166][204] In June, Lin acknowledged that his 2017 patellar tendon injury continued to limit his athleticism and affect his ability to drive to the basket.[205] Toronto advanced to the NBA Finals, winning the series in six games over Lin's former team, Golden State.[206] In the first NBA Finals held outside of the United States,[207] Lin became the first Asian American to win an NBA title.[lower-alpha 2][209] He played a total of 27 minutes in the playoffs,[210] becoming the first East Asian American as well as the first Harvard graduate to play in an NBA Finals.[lower-alpha 3]

Lin became a free agent on July 1. Later that month, in a motivational speech on Christian station GOOD TV in Taiwan, he lamented the fact that he remained unsigned. Lin likened his situation to hitting "rock bottom", adding that he felt as if the NBA had "kind of given up" on him.[166][204][212] Teams were uncertain about whether Lin remained mobile enough to play the point guard position.[213]

On August 27, 2019, Lin signed with the Beijing Ducks of the CBA for a reported US$3 million per year.[204][214][215] He also had offers to play in Russia, Israel, and the EuroLeague.[216] The Ducks scheduled for Lin to sit out the month of January in an arrangement agreed upon before the season with their other overseas players, Ekpe Udoh and Justin Hamilton.[217][218] In his regular season debut on November 3, Lin led the Ducks to a 103–81 win over the Tianjin Gold Lions with 25 points, nine assists, and six rebounds.[219] He was named a starter for the North in the CBA All-Star Game after receiving the most votes on his squad and the second most overall behind the South's Yi Jianlian.[220][221] Lin scored a game-high 41 points in the contest, which the South won 167–166.[221] On February 1, 2020, the CBA postponed the season due to the COVID-19 pandemic,[222] and the season did not resume until late June.[223] Lin ended the season with averages of 22.3 points, 5.7 rebounds, and 5.6 assists,[224] and he was a finalist for the CBA Defensive Player of the Year award.[225] Beijing was eliminated in the semifinals of the playoffs to the Guangdong Southern Tigers, who went on to repeat as league champions.[224][226]

During the offseason, Lin sought a return to the NBA.[227][228] His original team, Golden State, wanted to add him to their G League (formerly D-League) affiliate, the Santa Cruz Warriors. Golden State planned to sign and release him on December 19, 2020, to secure his G League rights for Santa Cruz, but they were unable to obtain a clearance letter from the Ducks, partly because FIBA's offices were closed on the weekends. However, the NBA later passed a new rule, allowing NBA teams to designate one five-year NBA veteran to fill a spot on their G League team. This allowed Golden State to secure Lin without more complicated and costlier roster moves.[229]

On January 9, 2021, Santa Cruz announced that Lin had been added to their team for the 2020–21 season through the new NBA veteran exception rule,[230] which some G League observers dubbed the "Jeremy Lin rule".[229]

External images
Lin on February 20, 2012 cover of Sports Illustrated
Lin on February 27, 2012 cover of Sports Illustrated
Lin on February 27, 2012 cover of Time

After he became a starter for the Knicks, the Associated Press called Lin "the most surprising story in the NBA".[285] Bloomberg News wrote that Lin "has already become the most famous [Asian American NBA player]". Knicks fans developed nicknames for him along with a new lexicon inspired by his name, Lin.[286][287] Most popular was the word Linsanity, the excitement over the unheralded Lin.[288][289] Time.com ran an article titled, "It's Official: Linsanity Is for Real".[290] Other puns included "Words with Lin", "Linderella", "Lincredible", and "Super Lintendo".[74]

Hall of Fame player Magic Johnson said, "The excitement [Lin] has caused in [Madison Square] Garden, man, I hadn't seen that in a long time".The Associated Press compared Linsanity to Tebowing.[74] Lin appeared on the cover of Sports Illustrated with the headline "Against All Odds", which the Times called "the greatest tribute".[291] He also made the cover of Time in Asia; Forbes wrote, "Congratulations Jeremy. You have now made the cover of Time the same number of times as Michael Jordan. Linsanity reigns on".[292] Lin's story was also on the front-page of many Taipei newspapers.[293] "I haven't done a computation, but it's fair to say that no player has created the interest and the frenzy in this short period of time, in any sport, that I'm aware of like Jeremy Lin has," said NBA commissioner David Stern.[294]

Lin's jersey on display

The Knicks' success due to Lin's play reportedly contributed to the end of a dispute that had for 48 days prevented Time Warner Cable customers from watching Knicks games and other MSG Network programs.[295] The market capitalization of the Madison Square Garden Company, the team's owner, rose by $250 million in February and $600 million by July 2012.[296] The Knicks quickly began selling replicas of Lin's No. 17 jerseys and T-shirts, and the sales and traffic for its online store increased more than 3,000%.[297] Lin's jersey became the best-selling online in the league in the week of February 4, 2012, and the Knicks the best-selling team; the team began selling Lin merchandise on February 10, and one souvenir stand at Madison Square Garden sold out before the game started.[74] His merchandise dominated the displays at Knicks stores, while those for the team's high-priced stars—Anthony, Stoudemire, and Chandler—were moved to the sale racks.[296] He had the best selling jersey in the NBA in February and March. For the one-year period ending April 2012, Lin had the second highest selling jersey in the league behind Derrick Rose.[298][299][300] Both Nike and Adidas introduced Lin-related athletic apparel, and expected that his fame would help sales in China.[301] His popularity was attributed with growing the NBA's popularity there since Yao Ming's retirement in the offseason; the audience for NBA games on television and online in China rose 39 percent over the previous season.[302]

Cookies inspired by Lin were available in New York in March 2012

Within three weeks of his first game as a starter, at least seven e-books were being published on Lin,[303] and the Global Language Monitor declared that Linsanity had met its criteria to be considered an English-language word.[304] He appeared on a second consecutive Sports Illustrated cover, the first New York-based team athlete[305] and the third NBA player in the magazine's history to do so.[306] New York City restaurants introduced new food and bar items in honor of Lin, and sales of Yanjing Beer rose.[307][132] The city has about 450,000 residents of Chinese or Taiwanese descent—larger than the entire populations of NBA cities like Miami, Atlanta or Cleveland—and viewing parties to watch Lin play flourished in Manhattan's Chinatown.[132][296] An airline advertised "Linsanely low prices",[308] bids for his rookie card exceeded $21,000 on eBay,[309] and the press circulated rumors—denied by Lin—that he was dating Kim Kardashian.[310] Foreign Policy speculated on his potential impact on Sino-American relations,[311] and Jack and Suzy Welch wrote that Lin's rise was a lesson to business leaders to not let bureaucracy stifle unproven talent.[312] Despite Lin's sudden fame, Sacramento Kings coach Keith Smart stated, "I knew [Lin] before he was Linmania. He's still the same humble guy. The guy has not changed a bit, which is real special for a young man."[313]

Lin trademarked the word Linsanity in 2012 to preempt strangers from profiting from his likeness.[94] Two others had attempted to trademark the term in the first week of February, but the United States Patent and Trademark Office ultimately registered the term to Lin.[314] A documentary film about Lin, titled Linsanity, premiered on January 20, 2013, at the Sundance Film Festival.[315] It was shown at numerous film festivals before making its way into art houses.[316]

Ben & Jerry's created a frozen yogurt in honor of Lin named "Taste the Lin-Sanity". It contained lychee honey swirls and fortune cookie pieces. The company later replaced the fortune cookies with waffle cookies and apologized to anyone offended by their Lin-Sanity flavor.[317][318]

In May 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States, the Knicks re-broadcast a week of Linsanity games on the MSG Network. Lin stated: "When I first got the call from my agent like, 'Hey, [the Knicks] want to do this,' I was floored. Because with COVID, right now, New York is going through one of the toughest times that it has seen in decades. It is a very, very tragic time. And the Knicks were like, 'Hey, we need to do something to uplift everybody.'"[319]

Lin in 2017

Lin has turned down most of the sponsorship deals he has been offered. He stated that he declined tens of millions of dollars of endorsement opportunities during the peak of Linsanity. "I do think my purpose is to play basketball, play well, and play for the glory of God," he said. Lin called business outside of basketball "definitely secondary to my primary job".[276]

He has endorsed the following brands during his career:

• Volvo[320]
• Nike (2010–2014)[44]
• Steiner Sports[321]
• Adidas (2014–2019)[322][323]
• Xtep (2019–2022)[324][325]

Lin has collaborated with fellow Asian-American rapper, MC Jin with the single "The First Opponent".[326] The music video was released on YouTube on May 28, 2019.