Jeremy Lin News: Charlotte Hornets Player Open to Return to New York; Knicks Uninterested
NBA player Jeremy Lin apparently wanted to return to the New York Knicks this season, but the team was not interested.
According to the Daily News, Lin's agent reached out to the Knicks organization to see if they were open to resigning the 27-year-old point guard, but was rebuffed.
"There was no conversation other than them telling me they weren't interested," Lin said to the Daily News.
Lin, who has signed a two-year, $4.3 million contract with the Charlotte Hornets, has maintained that he was always open to coming back to the Big Apple. The undrafted Harvard graduate's name rose to prominence when the formerly benched guard went on a scoring spree in 2012, leading the Knicks to many wins in the absence of superstar Carmelo Anthony.
The following summer, Lin was offered a three-year, $25 million contract by the Houston Rockets. The Knicks were free to match the restricted agents' offer, but they made no attempt, and Lin left for the Western Conference.
Some reports indicate team owner James Dolan felt slighted by Lin. When asked, Lin said the two barely spoke during his time in New York, and hadn't spoken since, but there were no hard feelings.
"[There's no animosity] from my perspective," Lin said. "I understand. And I understand why it happened. But no animosity. To be honest, I'm very much past it."
Lin has since fallen to the role of a serviceable bench player for Houston and the LA Lakers. However, the guard has had much success during the Hornets' preseason. Lin contributed 18 points, 8 rebounds, 5 assists and a steal in the team's last win over the Chicago Bulls.
Lin is optimistic about his chances in Charlotte, and he hopes he may be moved to the starting lineup with shooting guard Michael Kidd-Gilchrist out due to an injury.
"I can play [shooting guard]," Lin said. "I played it in college. So I've always said my bread-and-butter would be the point guard but I have no problem playing the two as well. I consider myself a combo guard. And honestly in this system it's at times interchangeable."
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