Jeremy Lin announces retirement after 15-year run

Jeremy Lin is calling it a career. The former NBA guard announced on Instagram that he is retiring after 15 years of professional basketball, a run that took him from Harvard to the NBA spotlight to international stardom.

“As athletes, we are always aware that the possibility of retirement is never far away,” Lin wrote. “I’ve spent my 15-year career knowing that one day I would have to walk away, and yet actually saying goodbye to basketball today has been the hardest decision I’ve ever made.”

Lin went undrafted in 2010 but landed with Golden State before bouncing to Houston and then to New York. It was there in early 2012 that “Linsanity” took hold, with Lin averaging 18.5 points and 7.7 assists over a 26-game stretch that captured the league’s attention.

He later signed with the Rockets and spent time with the Lakers, Hornets, Nets, Hawks and Raptors, winning an NBA title with Toronto in 2019. He appeared in 480 career games, averaging 11.6 points and 4.3 assists.

Lin, 37, has played mostly in China and Taiwan since leaving the NBA, with a brief G League stint in 2021. He said he plans to carry the lessons from his career into the next chapter of life.

“I will forever be the kid who felt fully alive every time I touched a basketball,” Lin wrote.