Jeremy Lin Talks About the Night Linsanity Ended

Linsanity was one of the most exciting stories of the early 2010s in the NBA. Here was this Taiwanese American point guard, who went undrafted in the 2010 NBA Draft, taking the entire NBA by storm. Yes, part of why Linsanity was so crazy was that Jeremy Lin didn’t look like your typical NBA star. However, it was also because Lin was legitimately playing out of his mind. 

Even though it was just for a few games, during those games, Jeremy Lin became a god. That being said, it all ended almost as quickly as it began. 

Lin recently spoke on a podcast about the night that Linsanity officially ended. 

“When the spotlight is on me, I get nervous. I start sweating…. I shrink. It’s overwhelming for me. Linsanity was that x100,000. Going into the Heat game, I had so much hype, that everybody had me circled on their calendar. For me, I’m just trynna make it to the cut deadline to have my minimum contract guaranteed. I’m just trying to make it. Everyday else is like ‘I’m trying to end him.’ Credit to Chalmers, the big 3 and the Heat. That was the night everybody says Linsanity ended. Credit to them because they did that. To me, the fact I could garner that attention and respect that they watched that much film on me and not wanting me to have anything. That showed me I really made waves. I wasn’t supposed to be here. Let alone having LeBron, Dwyane Wade, Chris Bosh, Chalmers, and Norris Cole being like ‘Yo, we’re going to send the whole fleet to go stop him!’

When the lights got the brightest, and the best team in the league wanted to shut down Lin, they did it. Still, to Lin’s credit, he turned that brief stretch of his career into $65 million in career earnings and a ten-year NBA career. Not bad for a 6’3” kid who played at Harvard.