Jeremy Lin: Overnight success 'became a burden'
Jeremy Lin's whirlwind arrival in the sports lexicon in the winter of 2012 read like a Hollywood tale. And while that near-legendary 26-game run with the New York Knicks has since helped earn him about $28 million in NBA salary, he remembers "Linsanity" negatively as well as positively.
"Everything happened overnight," Lin told reporters Wednesday at a news conference introducing him as a member of the Brooklyn Nets.
"When it first started, I am not going to lie, it was cool. Then it became a burden because I didn't know what I had gotten myself into. I didn't know how big things had become. One, two, three years removed, every year I embrace it more, every year I am more appreciative, every year I love it more and that is where I am right now."
Lin signed a three-year contract worth a reported $36 million with the Nets this month to ply his trade across the East River from where the rise to stardom began. Yet, with the magnifying glass of New York City media back on him, he'd rather be known for what he can do in the present than what he did in the past.
Related: Lin ready to take on larger role with Nets
"I will be myself but I don't really draw too many comparisons to 'Linsanity' the phenomenon," he said.
"I am just going to keep playing. People will always kind of compare me to that. In a lot of ways, not in a negative way or a way that I am offended but it kind of dehumanizes me to refer to me as a phenomenon. I am going to be here, keep playing my game, do the best that I can and whatever you guys want to call it, that is up to you guys."
One aspect of global fame he said he won't shy away from is speaking out on social issues. Lin, who turns 28 in August, hasn't been afraid to call out stereotypes that target Asians. He's willing to go beyond that as well.
"I'm in a much, much different place mentally as a person than I was when I was with the Knicks," Lin said. "So when you talk about that platform, I want to embrace it. I am not just saying Asians.
"If you look at what is going on in the world and a lot of violence that is going on in the world in terms of the justice system and all of these different things that is real life. That is so much bigger than basketball. I have a voice because of basketball to be able to talk and influence (people) ... that is a very unique situation."