Friday, July 1, 2016

Jeremy Lin returns to New York with a fatter wallet


By Louis Chan
AsAmNews National Correspondent

Jeremy Lin announced Friday via Twitter that he’s returning to New York where Linsanity all began.

Lin won’t be returning to the New York Knicks. He’ll be signing a three year deal with the Brooklyn Nets worth
 $36 million
That’s a huge boost over what he made with the Charlotte Hornets, which was estimated to be two year, $4 million. Lin opted out of his last year for free agency which officially got underway Thursday.
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It’ll be great to see Lin back in the spotlight of New York. While not as big as the one on the Knicks, expect the sale of Lin jerseys to take off as media coverage of him will indeed intensify.
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That seemed to be Stephon Marbury’s takeaway from the Jeremy Lin signing, with the ex-Nets and Knicks guard tweeting that “The NBA used my man to attract the Asian Market. I don’t think the money is about basketball.”

Lin agreed to a three-year, $36 million deal with the Nets — a big contract but certainly not a crazy one, like the $64 million Timofey Mozgov got from the Lakers or the $120 million Nic Batum is getting — and one of Marbury’s followers suggested the Brooklyn’s money would’ve been better spent on the Coney Island product, leading Marbury to chime in.
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Charlotte is only the latest in a long list of cities and teams that Lin has called home in his six seasons with the NBA. Before the Hornets, he played for the Los Angeles Lakers, Houston Rockets, New York Knicks, and Golden State Warriors.
RELATED: Fit in or be true to yourself?

In an April interview with the Charlotte Observer, Lin, who is the first American-born NBA player of Chinese or Taiwanese descent, expressed a "wistfulness" for California, where he was born and raised. "Sometimes I miss being able to get Asian food, or Asian dessert, or stuff like that. I miss seeing Asian people," Lin said. "But we travel enough, and I get to see my friends a lot. It's all good."

When Lin returns to New York, he will also be reunited with current Nets coach Kenny Atkinson, who was the assistant coach for the Kicks during his 2011-2012 run. He will likely be in the starting lineup with the Nets after being the good soldier and coming off the bench with Charlotte.

“I’ve played six years in the NBA; I’ve played on five different teams. I’ve played for two D-League teams — so seven cities in six years,” Lin said during a recent interview with the World Economic Forum. “I’m tired of boxes, I’m tired of moving companies, and I want to find a home.”

With $12 million a year, he can afford a pretty good home, even at New York City prices.
(Views From the Edge contributed to this report.)
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