Sports

Jeremy Lin Admits He Indulged 'Linsanity' Hype

Lin, who works out in the offseason in Menlo Park, says he was obsessed with "trying to be Linsanity."

The pride of Bay Area basketball in 2012 was Jeremy Lin, the Palo Alto native who seemingly came out of nowhere to star for the New York Knicks.

His meteoric rise was dubbed "Linsanity," and for the better part of the second half of the 2011-2012 season, he lived up to the name. 

The off-season brought a huge contract to Lin, whose summer workouts include plenty of time at Sparta Performance Science in Menlo Park. Lin signed a three-year deal with the Houston Rockets for $25 million.

Now, a shaky year into the contract, Lin admits that he got caught up in the hype that surrounded him.

“I became so obsessed with becoming a great basketball player … trying to be Linsanity, being this phenomenon that took the NBA by storm,” Lin told the Houston Chronicle. “The coaches were losing faith in me, basketball fans were making fun of me.”

This year the pressure will be off a bit, with Dwight Howard, James Harden and Chandler Parsons above Lin as scoring options. But regardless of his position on the depth chart, Lin maintains faith in his game through his Christianity. 

“We are God’s beloved children, and there is nothing you can do to reduce God’s love for you,” he said. “When you do, you’ll be free.”


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