Jeremy Lin said on Friday that he hopes to earn the respect of his new Los Angeles Lakers teammates and that he was relishing the chance to play alongside team star Kobe Bryant.
Lin, the point guard whose 2012 heroics for the New York Knicks sparked a brief “Linsanity” phenomenon in 2012, arrived in Taipei on Thursday for a promotional tour, just days after he was traded by the Houston Rockets to the Lakers.
“Kobe wants to win and I want to win,” Lin said at a news conference in fluent Mandarin.
“I think Kobe wants his teammates to train hard, and I will train hard.
“I hope he can respect me and we can collaborate well together,”
Lin was the first Chinese-American to play in the NBA, with a grandmother living in China and parents from Taiwan.
He signed a three-year deal with Houston for US$25 million (Dh91.8m) in 2012, but the 25 year old said he had not expected that he would be sitting on the bench in the second year.
“I am very excited to join the Lakers. I think this is a very good opportunity,” Lin said.
“I hope I can make a bigger contribution. I hope I can play a more important role.”
He has become a sporting hero in Taiwan after his star turn in New York, and more than 200 fans gathered at the airport outside Taipei for his arrival despite the late hour. Lin averaged 12.5 points, 4.1 assists and 2.6 rebounds a game for the Rockets last season. In 217 games over four NBA campaigns, Lin has averaged 11.9 points, 4.8 assists and 2.6 rebounds a game.
The Asian-American standout will join a talented Laker backcourt hoping to revive the form he showed in February 2012, when he came off the bench for an injury-plagued New York squad and sparked a win streak.
The Harvard graduate became the first player in NBA history to score at least 20 points and contribute seven assists in his first five starts, twice making the cover of Sports Illustrated magazine while being named among Time magazine’s 100 Most Influential People with his rags-to-riches tale.
Meanwhile, the Lakers have acquired two-time All-Star forward Carlos Boozer on amnesty waivers. Boozer, 32, was available for silent bidding from any team with enough salary cap space after being waived using the amnesty clause by the Chicago Bulls on Tuesday.
Follow us on twitter at @SprtNationalUAE