Jeremy Lin Biography

Jeremy was born on August 23, 1988, in Torrance, Los Angeles County, US, to Lin Gie-Ming and Shirley Lin. He grew up in the city of Palo Alto in the San Francisco Bay Area. He has an older brother, Josh, and a younger brother, Joseph.

His parents moved to the US from Taiwan to attend university. They initially settled in Virginia, then in Indiana, and finally in California. His father’s family is originally from the Fujian province in South China, and they later settled in Beidou, Taiwan. His mother’s family is originally from Pinghu on the east coast of China, and they migrated to Taiwan in the late 1940s. His parents hold citizenships of the US and Taiwan. Jeremy’s parents are devout Christians, and he was raised in a religious environment.

His father taught him and his brothers to play basketball. Jeremy soon gained a keen interest in the game. His parents recognized his talents early. His mother decided to nurture his talent. She also wished to guide him to balance his love for basketball with his studies. As a result, he excelled in both academics and football. He was the editor of his high-school newspaper. He also worked as an intern with California senator Joe Simitian.

He was the captain of the basketball team of ‘Palo Alto High School.’ In the 2005–2006 season, he led his school team to victory at the ‘California Interscholastic Federation (CIF) Division II’ state title championship, upsetting the favorites and the nationally ranked basketball team ‘Mater Dei.’ He was named the ‘All-State and Northern California Division II Player of the Year’ for his achievements in high-school basketball. At the end of his senior year, he averaged 15.1 points, 7.1 assists, 6.2 rebounds, and 5.0 steals.

To score better university admissions, he sent his curriculum vitae and a DVD of the highlights of his high-school basketball matches to all the universities that he had applied to, including ‘Stanford University,’ the ‘University of California, Berkeley,’ and the ‘University of California, Los Angeles’ (UCLA). He wanted to obtain a sports scholarship, and his dream universities were ‘Stanford University’ and the ‘UCLA.’

In a strange twist of fate, most of the universities that offered the facility of sports scholarships did not offer him any scholarship. Instead, they offered him normal admission without any chance of being named to the university teams. However, two ‘Ivy League’ universities, ‘Harvard University’ and ‘Brown University,’ offered him guaranteed spots on their respective university basketball teams.

He joined ‘Harvard,’ and in his sophomore year, he was named to the ‘All-Ivy League Second Team.’ In his junior year, he was the only ‘NCAA Division I’ men’s basketball player with a top-10 rank in his region’s athletic conference. In his senior year, he was selected to be part of the ‘All-Ivy League First Team.’ He finished his university-level basketball career as the first player in the history of ‘Ivy League’ to record 1,483 points, with 487 rebounds, 406 assists, and 225 steals. In 2010, he graduated from ‘Harvard’ with a degree in economics and a grade-point average of 3.1.

Despite his stellar record, no team chose him in the 2010 ‘NBA’ draft. The best he could get was an offer from the ‘Dallas Mavericks’ to play for them in the off-season ‘NBA Summer League’ championship.

After his stint with the ‘Dallas Mavericks’ in the ‘NBA Summer League,’ he was approached by multiple teams. As he wanted to play his first major basketball league in or near his hometown, he chose to play for the ‘Golden State Warriors,’ a San Francisco Bay Area-based team, despite having better offers from other major teams. He signed a two-year contract with the ‘Warriors’ on July 21, 2010. He also signed a three-year endorsement contract with ‘Nike.’

In the 2011–2012 season, he was claimed by the ‘New York Knicks’ as a backup, behind their players Toney Douglas and Mike Bibby. He played a key role in the team’s transformation and in the team’s victories against major teams such as the ‘Washington Wizards’ and the ‘Los Angeles Lakers.’ His sudden rise to fame and the craze surrounding him was termed “Linsanity.”

In the 2012 off-season period, he was signed by the ‘Houston Rockets’ for $19.5 million. He was projected as the face of the team in their publicity campaigns, which put him under tremendous pressure to perform well. As a result, his performance in the 2012–2013 season was not as brilliant as that in the previous season. However, he improved his performance in the 2013–2014 season

On July 13, 2014, Lin was traded by the ‘Rockets’ to the ‘Los Angeles Lakers.’ He faced problems adapting to the game strategy of coach Byron Scott and struggled to perform well. He also missed the last five matches of the 2014–2015 season due to an upper respiratory tract infection.

On July 9, 2015, he signed a $4.3 million contract with the ‘Charlotte Hornets.’ He quit the team in 2016, after a lacklustre performance in the 2015–2016 season. On July 7, 2016, he signed a three-year $36 million contract with the ‘Brooklyn Nets.’ He started well in the 2016–2017 season, playing for the ‘Nets,’ but was plagued with injuries later. In the 2017–2018 season, he was affected by more injuries. Finally, on July 13, 2018, he was traded to the ‘Atlanta Hawks.’

He loves spending time with his family when he is not playing or training. He is a religious person and has often expressed his desire to become a pastor. As an Asian–American sportsperson in a sport dominated by African–American players, he has faced significant racial discrimination in the initial stages of his career.

In October 2016, he donated $1 million to his alma mater, ‘Harvard University.’ He is not known to be involved with anyone romantically. He is known to be very selective about the brands he endorses.