Jeremy Lin is now officially with Los Angeles Lakers and must say hello to new basketball mates with its lead star Kobe Bryant.
News of Jeremy Lin's transfer to Los Angeles Lakers made news two weeks ago. According to a Lakers Nation report, though, official press announcement was made the morning of July 24 by Lakers General Manager Mitch Kupchak.
The Houston Rockets traded Jeremy Lin and two more draft picks players to the Lakers in order to get Miami's Chris Bosh. Unfortunately, Bosh opted to re-sign with Miami.
During the media announcement, Lakers GM Kupchak recalled how they have tried twice to get Jeremy Lin to join the Lakers. Both bids were lost to Golden State Warriors and Houston Rockets. The Lakers general manager did not lose hope, though and eventually got Lin to sign on a third attempt.
"The first thing I said to him when he sat down was, 'You know, three times is a charm,'" ESPN quoted Kupchak as saying to Lin during a physical with the Lakers team.
Jeremy Lin rose to stardom during his stay with the New York Knicks, when he created what was dubbed "Linsanity" as he showed tremendous scoring and court performance for the Knicks. Lin made it clear during his launch as a new Lakers member that he does not have plans on recreating the fandom, though and would like to be himself "more than ever".
"I think that's been a big weight off my shoulders and I think that's very important for me as a player. I'm not trying to recreate a 'Linsanity.' I'm not trying to be that phenomenon that happened in New York. I think I just want to be myself more than ever," he said.
The Harvard graduate's non-stellar performance with Houston gave him lesser playing time and eventually losing the point guard post to Patrick Beverley. The Diplomat recounted more problems Jeremy Lin faced with Houston and its coaches, but the California-raised Lin chose to highlight what he has learned with the team throughout his two-year stay with the Rockets.
"I think from the minute that I stepped into Houston until now, I'm definitely a much more complete player and I learned how to do a lot of things that maybe I never had to do before, which was learning how to play off the ball, cutting and really challenging myself with some of the weaknesses that I've had to try to improve on," he said.
Jeremy Lin has already met the Lakers and was also able to talk with Kobe Bryant. The Lakers' most famous player left some encouraging words to the new member, as Lin recalled Bryant telling him: "'We have a lot of work to do.'"
Jeremy Lin will be donning the Los Angeles Lakers No. 7 jersey while assuming the point guard duties.
