Jeremy Lin on joining Lakers: 'I'm not trying to recreate Linsanity'
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Jeremy Lin told reporters in Los Angeles on Thursday that he's had a lot of great NBA opportunities. He's played with Carmelo Anthony, James Harden, and now he's excited to learn from Kobe Bryant and Steve Nash.
Lin on playing with Nash: "I can’t wait. I remember when he as in Phoenix & was 20 & 10 every night. I can’t wait to learn from him."
— Los Angeles Lakers (@Lakers) July 24, 2014
Jeremy Lin on Kobe: "Anybody who wins as much as he does has a mental edge over everybody else."
— Mark Medina (@MarkG_Medina) July 24, 2014
The Los Angeles Lakers welcomed the guard, who was recently traded from the Houston Rockets, in a press conference.
[Courtesy: Lakers]
"I'm seeing it as a new start, a fresh start," Lin said. He'll wear No. 17 - the same number he work in the D-League with Reno, and in New York.
Lin didn't speak negatively of the Rockets, considering the team's use of his number in marketing for Anthony earlier in the free agency season, nor of Harden's comments about he and Dwight Howard being the most important pieces in Houston despite the departure of Chandler Parsons.
"I agree," Lin said. "He didn't mean that in any derogatory way. He and Dwight are the cornerstones of the Rockets."
Lin said he wasn't outraged with the use of his number in the marketing ploy for Anthony, but he did suggest it could have been handled in a different way.
Lin noted he feels he has the least amount of pressure he's ever had during his NBA tenure.
Jeremy Lin: "I'm not trying to recreate 'Linsanity.' I'm not trying to be the phenomenon I was in New York. I'm just trying to be myself"
— Dave McMenamin (@mcten) July 24, 2014