Over the 20-odd years the late Kobe Bryant graced the NBA, he played alongside some of the biggest names. Of course, Shaquille O’Neal, Pau Gasol, or maybe even Derek Fisher would be the first few names to come to anyone’s mind when you’re talking about the Mamba’s teammates. However, none of them had a better storyline than the guy who only spent a single season with the five-time NBA champion.

Yes, the player we’re talking about is none other than Jeremy Lin. The two first crossed paths when Linsanity was only just getting started, as Kobe acted his first legitimate acid test back in 2012. Back then, the former Lakers superstar did not even know who Lin was, let alone knowing about the possibility of them being teammates in the future. However, that day came just a couple of years later, in July, when the Purple & Gold acquired the combo guard.

While the pair of guards unexpectedly shared a few great moments, that didn’t last long, as Lin was shipped to Charlotte the following year. That was the story of the six-foot-three guard for most of his nine-year stint in the league, as his era came to an end much earlier, the same way he burst onto the scene, leaving fans wondering what went wrong. Now, years later, Lin has cleared the air around his abrupt exit from the NBA in an emotional confession.

“I think a lot of it started with the knee injury,” Lin said recently while speaking to Dwight Howard on his podcast. “And then basically after we won in 2019, I was like, all right, I’m getting back from my year-long traumatic injury, and I couldn’t get anything… It got to the point where I was begging teams, where I was asking them, can I just get a non-guaranteed training camp invite? I’ll prove myself. I could not even get a non-guaranteed training camp invite.”

The injury Lin was talking about came in 2017 when he was playing for the Brooklyn Nets in their season opener. Following this, he missed the rest of the campaign and was later traded to Atlanta. However, even before he could settle there, he was once again traded, this time to the Toronto Raptors, where he went on to win his first ring, but sadly, that was the last time Linsanity featured in an NBA game.

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With no opportunities coming his way, as he mentioned, he decided to make a tough decision to head to China for a year. There, Lin suited up for the Beijing Ducks, leading them in almost every department, hoping scouts would notice him and hand him another shot in the NBA. However, even that wasn’t enough, as Kobe Bryant’s former teammate had to take a call that’d cost him millions.

Jeremy Lin sacrificed millions with the hopes of getting a second chance in the NBA

After tearing it up in China, Jeremy Lin expected a call from the NBA, but that never came. Now, he had only two choices: either he could continue playing in Asia or head to the G League to prove himself. However, the only problem was that if he did decide to go back to the States, it would cost him a fortune, given that G League players don’t get paid anywhere near NBA salaries.

“So I won the championship, I went overseas, had a really good year, and then that still wasn’t enough. And so I was like, ‘All right, I’ll come to the G League and prove it,’” Lin said. “And so I came to the G League, and that was one of the craziest decisions too… Between on-court and off-court salary, I ended up giving up $7 million to take a $30,000 salary in the G League.”

It was the Golden State Warriors’ G League Affiliate, the Santa Cruz Warriors, that decided to bet on Jeremy Lin in January 2021. And he did not disappoint, to be fair, averaging 19.8 points, 3.2 rebounds, and 6.4 assists per game during that season. But, even that was not enough for teams to offer him even a minimum deal on their roster.

After that major setback, Lin chose to pack up and head to Asia for good, where he retired just last year. It may have felt like an abrupt end to a roller-coaster career, but there was a silver lining. “Linsanity” got to finish his basketball journey in Asia, something he had always dreamed of, and he remains an inspiration for late bloomers still chasing their shot.