NBA free agent Jeremy Lin has reportedly received an offer to play for a team in China’s premier basketball league.
The Beijing Shougang Ducks, one of the most popular teams in the Chinese Basketball Association, reportedly offered the former Raptors guard a salary of $3 million per year, according to South China Morning Post.
In his nine seasons playing in the NBA, Lin earned an average annual salary of over $7 million, with his highest salary to date being his 2014-2015 season with the Los Angeles Lakers at $14,898,938, while his lowest being the $473,604 salary he earned from his maiden season with the Golden State Warriors, according to SportRac.
Citing claims made by Beijing Youth Daily reporter Song Xiang on his Sina Weibo account, websites such as Sina Sports noted that Lin’s representatives have been in talks for the upcoming 2019-20 CBA season. Other reports have since claimed that there are other Beijing clubs that are interested in the 31-year-old Asian American star athlete.
Former NBA star and fellow New York Knicks alumnus Stephon Marbury also played for the Beijing Ducks from 2011-2017. Marbury, who retired from playing last year, is now the coach of the newly renamed Beijing Royal Fighters.
While there have been numerous reports of Lin being in talks with some unnamed clubs in the CBA, this is the first time a team was named along with an offered salary. Should talks push through, Lin will be signed as one of each team’s foreign quota.
Lin, who is currently on his Asian tour, earlier expressed his interest in China, where he briefly played during the 2011 NBA lockout. Recently asked whether a career in the CBA is something he sees in the future, Lin has noted, “Nothing is official until I say something.”
Since leaving Toronto Raptors earlier this summer, Lin has remained a free agent but aims to find a new team in the NBA before the new season begins on October 22.
