Ex-Knick Jeremy Lin seeks NBA return

“This decision has really been the hardest in my life,” Lin said in Mandarin. “Every morning I would wake up at 4 am or 5 am, thinking, thinking, and thinking all the time. In the end, although Shougang has treated me incredibly well … giving me everything I wanted, in the end, I feel that I still have NBA dreams. I still have time to play and I have to chase this.”

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Lin, who had a 10-year stint in the NBA, rose to fame in New York in the 2011-12 season.  The Harvard graduate led a depleted Knicks squad to an improbable run that sparked the Linsanity craze.

After his breakout season, he became an NBA journeyman and played for the Houston Rockets, Los Angeles Lakers, Charlotte Hornets, Brooklyn Nets, and Atlanta Hawks. His last stint with the Toronto Raptors made him the first Asian-American to win a ring in the NBA although he was used sparingly in the playoffs.

He posted 11.6 points, 4.3 assists, and 2.8 rebounds in 480 NBA regular-season games.

Last year, Lin took the CBA by storm averaging 22.3 points, 5.7 rebounds, and 5.6 assists and led the Beijing Ducks to the semifinals for the first time in five years.  The Taiwanese-American also finished second in the All-Star balloting next to another ex-NBA player and CBA superstar Yi Jianlian.

Lin also thanked his Chinese fans in the heartfelt video saying it was a difficult decision to make.

“I know that many of my fans have stood by me no matter if I was injured,” Lin said. “Why was this decision so difficult? Yesterday, when I shared this with my family and friends when I told them I would have to leave China, I cried.”

Subsequently, his CBA team released a statement that they are not signing Lin to return for a second season.

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Lin will join a shallow free-agent market where his former Toronto Raptors teammate Fred Van Vleet and Miami Heat’s Goran Dragic lead the point guard list.