“Every game, it was like the crowd was going crazy, and ‘Linsanity’ happened,” Amar’e Stoudemire said on 7PM in Brooklyn, reflecting on the incredible phenomenon that overtook the Knicks in 2012. The arenas were packed with excited fans and swarmed by reporters. In just a few days, the Ivy League star had taken over the Big Apple. However, the frenzy was short-lived. What happened to Jeremy Lin?

In other words, where did Jeremy Lin go? After going undrafted in 2010, Lin signed with the Warriors, spent a year in the D-League, then briefly joined the Rockets before New York handed him his breakout chance. The chance with the Knicks changed his fortunes overnight as he sparked Linsanity.

It was February 4, 2012. The pressure had reached a boiling point a week before his contract deadline. He had to prove himself and bid goodbye to the league. Taking the entire crowd by surprise, Lin, who was a relatively unknown prospect, dropped 25 points coming off the bench against the Knicks. He led the team to a win after 11 losses and became the savior. Following this, he continued to drop 30+ points and made the ultimate statement by scoring 38 points against Kobe Bryant’s Lakers.

His eight-game run ended on February 14, 2012, against Miami, as Lin went 1-for-11 and the Knicks fell 102–88. In March 2012, doctors diagnosed Lin with a meniscus tear in his left knee, and he had to miss the rest of the regular season for surgery. This ultimately led to his departure.

At the end of that season, he became a free agent. As the New York Knicks couldn’t match the offer, he signed a deal with the Houston Rockets. He went on to play for a few other teams before winning a championship with the Toronto Raptors. In 2019, Lin became the first Asian-American (and first Harvard alum) to appear in—and win—an NBA Finals. However, following this, he couldn’t get a contract from any other team. He had even expressed his frustration about how things ended.

Despite later chapters, his 2011–12 Knicks run remains Lin’s defining legacy. His jersey sales skyrocketed so much. Safe to say, nothing has changed.

Lin-Mania strikes the NBA once again

Nearly a decade after his Linsanity peak, Jeremy Lin reminded the league why his story still resonates. During his 2019 title run with the Raptors, Lin’s minutes dwindled and, by the playoffs, injuries and role cuts limited him to only seven total games. This left him leaving him sidelined for stretches and yearning for another chance. In July that year, Lin publicly admitted he felt the NBA had “kind of given up on me,” even breaking down in a speech in Taiwan as he described hitting “rock bottom” in free agency.

Yet this February, the 36-year-old wasn’t disappearing—he was coaching. Lin returned to San Francisco for the Castrol Rising Stars mini-tournament at the 2025 All-Star Weekend, serving as honorary head coach for Team G League alongside NBA legends like Chris Mullin.

Just days later, Jeremy Lin shared an exciting release of his first-ever Hardwood Classics New York Knicks Swingman Jersey. It was made in collaboration with Mitchell & Ness and Fanatics. Launched amidst the special month of Asian American Pacific Islander Heritage and Mental Health Awareness, the jersey collection sold out fast, with the comments section of the announcement posts flooded with demands for restock.

But this phenomenon isn’t new. Even back then, Lin was featured on the Sports Illustrated magazine covers. He was also on TIME’s list of The World’s 100 Most Influential People of 2012. The rage was all over NYC. No wonder, the former Knicks legend still expresses their disbelief over Linsanity:

“I’m in Florida…at the crib and I’m watching the games. And I’m like, ‘What the…’ I get back to New York, I’m seeing the whole city is in an uproar. I’m like, ‘Man, what’s going on,” Stoudemire said on 7PM in Brooklyn. After his time in the NBA, Lin went on to play in the G League and China.