Jeremy Lin says he nearly quit basketball pre-‘Linsanity,’ reveals clash with Kobe Bryant

Former NBA star Jeremy Lin says the “Linsanity” phenomenon almost never happened.

Speaking on Dwight Howard’s podcast “Above the Rim with DH 12,” the Taiwanese American athlete revealed he once cleaned out his locker during Houston Rockets training camp and asked his agent to tell the team to cut him after failing to get practice reps as the fifth-string point guard.

Lin, who retired from the sport last year, also described confronting Kobe Bryant about dismissive body language during their time with the Los Angeles Lakers, saying the exchange led to the two teammates not speaking for roughly five months.

The 37-year-old said the incident occurred shortly after he was waived by the Golden State Warriors and joined the Houston Rockets for training camp early in his career. Houston already had established point guards, including Goran Dragić and Kyle Lowry, leaving Lin buried on the depth chart and unable to get meaningful opportunities during the team’s twice-daily practices.

Frustrated by the lack of reps, Lin said he packed his belongings and called his agent with the intention of leaving the team. “I actually cleaned out my locker, I put everything in my mesh bag, I left and I called my agent and I said, ‘Yo tell the Rockets to cut me. I’m done,’” Lin said.

Lin said his parents and agent convinced him to return and finish training camp, reminding him how far he had come in his basketball journey. Although the Rockets eventually waived him, three months later he would begin the run with the New York Knicks that became known as “Linsanity.”

Lin joined the New York Knicks during the 2011-12 NBA season and unexpectedly entered the starting lineup. A series of high-scoring performances sparked the global “Linsanity” phenomenon and made Lin one of the most visible Asian American athletes in professional sports.

Lin said a turning point came when his agent warned him before a game against the New Jersey Nets that his roster spot could be in jeopardy. “My agent called me and said, ‘If you don’t play well tonight this is your last game in the NBA,’” Lin said. “So I was like, ‘All right forget it. I’m just going to do me.’”

The performance helped ignite the run that became known as “Linsanity.” Lin led the Knicks on a winning streak and scored 38 points against Bryant and the Los Angeles Lakers during the height of the surge.

Lin also reflected on his time with the Los Angeles Lakers, describing a tense relationship with Kobe Bryant during the 2014-15 season. Lin said the conflict began during a late-game situation when Bryant wanted a foul committed while the coaching staff instructed him not to foul, leaving him caught between opposing directions.

After the game, Lin said he texted Bryant about what he saw as dismissive body language. “I texted him and I was like, ‘Hey man, I really don’t appreciate the body language,’” Lin said. “I’m not saying that you can’t teach me. You’re obviously like a hundred times the player I am. I want to learn anything and everything I can from you. I’m just asking can you say it in a way that’s respectful to me as a man.” Lin said the exchange led to months of silence between the two teammates. “We didn’t speak for the next five months,” Lin said.

Lin also pushed back on a long-circulating claim by former teammate Nick Young that he cried after Bryant criticized him during a Lakers practice scrimmage. Lin said the story was inaccurate, explaining that he instead asked head coach Byron Scott to run another scrimmage.