Jeremy Lin Happy to be Back in New York, Looking to Make a Huge Difference
Jeremy Lin is back where he always wanted to be. Just in a different uniform and in a different borough of the city.
The much traveled point guard and former Knicks star recently shared New York City is where he has always longed to be.
Now in Brooklyn with the Nets, courtesy of a three-year, $36 million free-agent deal, Lin is looking to pick up where he left off during his brief but much celebrated run on Broadway.
"I was really, really sad," Lin said of the end of his time in New York. "I was sad the way everything went down, 'cause nothing happened the way I thought it was going to. I had wished that they had offered me a contract. And then, when I found out that they weren't gonna match, I was even more sad, 'cause honestly, I wanted to finish my career there."
But now Jeremy Lin is back in the place where all the Linsanity started and the way he sees it he has a chance to be a part of something even more magical.
Coming off a 21-win season, the Nets have nowhere to go but up, and now at 27 Lin is convinced his best years are in the here and now.
"I'm going into the next three years [thinking they] should be the best years from an athletic prime standpoint," he said. "If you look at when NBA players peak, a lot of times it's 27-30."
Still, to say things now come easy for Jeremy Lin would be like saying everybody has come to root for the NBA's only Asian born star.
"There's gonna be racism everywhere I go, and some of it's more subtle, some of it's less malicious," he said. "I mean, every day there's guys with certain stereotypes or whatever, and it's not just me. But yeah, I still go through it."
Other examples include Lin walking into an arena with a crowd of teammates and being the only one stopped and asked for credentials.
Still, Lin soldiers on, knowing there are many more pressing issues in the world for many to deal with.
"It's awful. It's scary," he said of all the mayhem that now plaques the world. "Civilians getting shot, police getting shot, terrorist attacks, people getting run over," he added. "I don't even know what to think of it all 'cause it's just so messed up."
Lin was particularly impressed with the recent public stance fellow stars Carmelo Anthony, LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Paul took in calling for peace and togetherness between police and residents and African-American residents.
"I'm not black, obviously, but I can relate with a minority," he said. "And then I can also relate and understand how important it is to have a functional police and justice system in place to protect us and protect our country. I see like what's going on on both ends, and it's like, I'd be scared to be a cop, I'd be scared to be a civilian, I'd be scared to be anybody right now, and that's just not the way that this country is supposed to be."
Overall though, Jeremy Lin will take his life and all the many challenges it makes for.
"It's definitely less hectic," he said of his life now and around the time when he first arrived in New York. "I would say my quality of life is much better because I take life a lot slower, I take some things less seriously, and I just really try to enjoy each day."
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