Former New York Knicks head coach Mike D’Antoni says Jeremy Lin was on the verge of being released by the team just before Linsanity began in 2012.
D’Antoni explained that Lin had received limited playing time and was primarily kept on the roster as insurance while the Knicks dealt with injuries at point guard.
“You know, it almost didn’t come about. Remember, he’s on a 10-day contract. He’s ready to get released. He hasn’t really played, because we’re trying to bring back, I think it was Baron Davis, who was hurt. Iman Shumpert was a little hurt, and we were seeing if he could play point guard. I forget, there was somebody else.”
The former Knicks coach said he had asked the team’s general manager to keep an additional point guard available in case another player suffered an injury.
“So I’m telling my general manager, ‘We need somebody sitting on the bench in case my only point guard goes down. We need somebody.’ And I had him there just in case. That never happened.”
With injured players approaching their returns, New York was preparing to release Lin. However, several members of D’Antoni’s coaching staff encouraged him to give the guard an opportunity.
“So he’s ready to be released because these guys are coming back. And Kenny Atkinson, my brother Danny, and Phil Weber came to me. This was on Thursday or Friday before Friday’s game, and they go, ‘You know, Jeremy’s got something. He works out really well. Maybe we should give him a chance.’”
D’Antoni agreed that Lin deserved an opportunity before the team made its final roster decision.
“I go, ‘Hey, we’re going to release him on Tuesday. So if we’re going to give him a chance, we better give him a chance, right?’ And then on Friday, we gave him a chance. It exploded. It really did.”
Lin’s performances quickly attracted national attention, turning him from a little-used reserve into one of the NBA’s most talked-about players.
D’Antoni recalled being away from the team for personal reasons during part of Lin’s emergence and returning to find that the guard had become a major attraction in New York.
“It’s funny. I think I went to Florida because my brother had passed away, and you were hurt a little bit. I think Carmelo was hurt. Carmelo got hurt that same game when Jeremy came in and started to go. And then I was in Florida, and when I came back, I’m looking around like, ‘Wait, this is Jeremy Lin? The city’s excited about all this? What is happening?’ I stepped into it. It was a whole uproar. It was a crazy time.”
Lin went on to average 18.5 points and 7.6 assists over a 16-game stretch in February 2012, helping the Knicks put together a winning run that became known as Linsanity.
