At this stage of his career,
Jeremy Lin has experienced nearly everything that basketball has to
offer.
From humble beginnings in the
Bay Area to his insane ‘Linsanity’ run in New York to enduring
career-altering injuries to winning a title with the Raptors in
2019, Lin had a lengthy and fruitful NBA career.
Now, Lin is embarking on the
next chapter of his pro-basketball career. Lin, whose parents are
of Taiwanese descent, is determined to deliver a title to
Taiwan.
The 35-year-old is playing with
the New Taipei Kings in the East Asia Super League, a fast-growing league that features
the best basketball clubs in East Asia. They will face off
against Japan’s Chiba Jets in the semifinals, which will also
feature teams from Korea and the Philippines.
Lin is no stranger to high-level
basketball. After battling the best of the best throughout his time
in the NBA, he’s now leading the Kings against Asia’s best.
However, he lists two key differences between the style of
basketball played in the NBA and EASL: spacing and
physicality.
“In the NBA, you have defense
during the key and a longer three-point line and other stuff… so
they promote a lot of spacing, they promote a lot of scoring (and)
it’s a lot easier getting into the paint,” Lin said in an interview
with BasketballNews.
The East Asia Super League is
sanctioned by FIBA and uses its rules. In this setting, the
three-point line is shorter, the court is smaller and there is no
defensive three-second rule (which basically allows centers to play
deep in the paint and camp under the rim).
Furthermore, Lin adds that the
EASL is much more physical than the NBA: “Here, it’s much more physical. You get a lot
more contact – you just gotta grind it more out here.”
Finally, Lin stressed that the
NBA’s star power is just different. Facing all-world talents like
Kevin Durant, Steph Curry and LeBron James makes the NBA different
from every other league in the world.
“Obviously the NBA, you’re
talking about world-class – the best of the best talent-wise,” Lin
said. “On any given night, you’re seeing just insane talent. But,
you know, that’s not to say anything about the players not in the
NBA because there are a ton of great players around the world, but
you’re seeing (Durant, Curry, LeBron) night in and night out and
they’re obviously phenomenal players.”
