Nine years to the day after he officially begin Linsanity by dropping 38 points on national television against Kobe Bryant and the Lakers in a 92-85 win for the Knicks at Madison Square Garden, Jeremy Lin began his journey back to the NBA in Orlando.
Last night in the G League bubble, the 32-year-old guard suited up for the Santa Cruz Warriors and scored 18 points on 4-of-9 shooting from the field with five assists and three boards in 30 minutes of action.
It wasn’t enough, as the Warriors fell to the G League Ignite (a non-affiliated team that was formed to primarily function as a one-year development program for elite NBA draft prospects), who got a game-high 23 points on 9-of-10 shooting from longtime NBA point guard Jarrett Jack in 19 minutes off the bench.
Though the game was a loss for the team, the defeat was a win for Lin, who is trying to make his way back to the NBA after playing last season in China and turning down significant offers from several Chinese teams to come back and play stateside.
“Back then, it was really just a lot of space, a ton of usage, a ton of pick-and-rolls and at that time I could get hot on certain nights, but shooting wasn’t as much a part of my game as it is now,” Lin, who was playing in his first G League game in nearly a decade, said while reflecting on how NBA basketball has changed since Linsanity began. “Now, it’s very different. It’s a much more poised game.”
Lin and the Santa Cruz Warriors will get a second chance at their first win in a matchup against the Delaware Blue Coats on Friday.
The 18 teams in the G League bubble will all play 15 games, with the top eight clubs advancing to a single-elimination playoff starting March 8. The title game is March 11.
While winning the title would be great, making the leap to the NBA is the real goal for Jack, Lin and the rest of the G Leaguers playing in the latest version of the Orlando bubble.
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