‘I feel like it’s my duty’: How Palo Alto native, former NBA standout Jeremy Lin is guiding the next wave of Asian American basketball players

PALO ALTO — Jeremy Lin cringes a little bit when he hears people talk about his infamous Linsanity run. 

The Palo Alto native and former NBA standout never thought he would still be hearing stories about his legendary two-week stretch during the 2011-12 season over a decade later, but learning about how he served as an inspiration to Asian Americans brings a smile to his face. 

“Every time I hear about (Linsanity), I’m like, ‘Don’t tell me how old you were when it happened,’” Lin told the Bay Area News Group on Saturday. “I didn’t think we would still be talking about that right now. But every year I’ve seen that the story is still very prevalent. It’s still very relevant. A lot of people still care about it. Seeing people tell me they were in middle school or elementary school when it happened, it’s crazy seeing time fly.”

Just 13 years after Linsanity shook up the sports world, Lin is grateful to have inspired the next generation of Asian American basketball players. On Saturday, he held his inaugural JLIN NextGen Basketball Camp in Palo Alto, where he brought together the top Asian American college basketball players from across the country for two days of expert training and intense workouts. 

The players who attended Saturday’s camp weren’t even in high school when Lin had his breakout moment. But learning from the person that inspired them to try and play basketball at the highest levels was a dream come true for the group of 12 players. 

“I was just super excited that he gave me the opportunity to come and was excited when I saw the invite to the camp,” said Stanford guard Ryan Agarwal. “It was crazy to see his longevity and his greatness even when he wasn’t in the media spotlight.”

Lin just completed his 15th pro season, currently playing for the New Taipei Kings of the Taiwanese Professional Basketball League. As his playing days wind down, Lin, 35, believes the next phase of his life will be to help mentor the next generation of Asian American players to get to where he once was. 

“I definitely see myself getting into this space. To what degree or what that role looks like, I don’t know,” Lin said. “But I will for sure be pouring into the next generation and sharing my thoughts. Hopefully, I can import some wisdom.

“This camp is a big first step. We’ve never done something like this. I guess this is somewhat of a transition for me from being a player to being a coach.”

Lin’s NBA career took him to Charlotte, Brooklyn, Atlanta, Los Angeles, Toronto and even his hometown Golden State Warriors. But it was with the New York Knicks where Lin became a global star. 

Over a two-week stretch during the 2011-2012 season, Lin went from nearly out of the league to becoming the Knicks’ star point guard. He landed on the cover of Time Magazine and on Sports Illustrated in back-to-back weeks after averaging 25 points, 9.2 assists while leading the Knicks to an 8-1 record in that period. 

Palo Alto High graduate and Cal Poly-San Luis Obispo point guard Annika Shah still remembers staying up late to watch all of Lin’s legendary run.

“I don’t think I’ll ever forget Linsanity and the run that he had,” Shah said. “Every single moment to that part of his story was just remarkable and it inspired a lot of Asian athletes. It gave us hope that maybe if we can work hard enough, we will be able to put another Asian athlete on a platform that he has.”

Lin’s impact for Asian American basketball players has been felt as the years go by. 

During the 2011-2012 season, Lin was the only Asian American player in the league. In 2025, Jordan Clarkson, Jalen Green, Kyle Anderson, Jaylin Williams and Johnny Juzang were all players of Asian American descent to suit up in an NBA game. On the women’s side, Valkyries guard Kaitlyn Chen became the first Taiwanese American player to be drafted to a WNBA team. 

“We’re definitely seeing more representation,” Lin said. “I have a small role in just impacting who I can and sharing knowledge with who I can. One of the things that I’ve seen that’s disappointing to me is that we’ve seen some players from the older generations rag on the new players from the younger generation. 

“I think we should have a lot of mutual respect and appreciation for each other. So any way I can help players, big or small or a lot or a little, I feel like that’s my duty. To give back to the game.”

Saturday’s camp gave the 12 college players a look into how Lin prepared in his offseason.

Lin rotated through intense shooting and ball handling drills and even took the players through a strenuous lifting session before they touched a basketball. But even as a coach, Lin didn’t lower his intensity as each player attempted to get through the grueling workouts. 

Just like he was drenched in sweat after his game winner against the Toronto Raptors in 2012, Lin was soaked again, this time as he gave out instructions and demonstrated drill after drill. He expected the players to follow suit, practicing with the same sense of urgency he did when he was still trying to earn an NBA contract. 

“This opened up my eyes to see the world from a pro’s perspective,” Agarwal said. “It was cool to just understand that I can learn from anyone. He even said he could learn from us. And so I think him saying he could learn from kids at his own camp, I think that humbles us to be willing to learn from anyone that we’re around.” 

Lin hasn’t played in an NBA game since 2019, the year he won an NBA championship with the Toronto Raptors team that defeated the Warriors in their last game at Oracle Arena. 

Now in his mid-30s, Lin said he wants to retire on his own accord whether that’s overseas or in the NBA. 

“I want to be able to go out not because I can’t play or can’t physically play. I want to be able to go out the way I want to go out,” Lin said. “The game has given a lot to me, but finding that nice middle ground of, ‘Hey, maybe I could play a little bit more, but I don’t need to.’ I’ve done a lot in my playing career, so I’m still trying to figure out that balance.”