What If This Is Jeremy Lin's Last Season EVER?

Could this possibly be Jeremy Lin's final year as a professional basketball player? And also, what is his potential global impact on the game of basketball, even outside of playing it? Yeah, make sure you like, subscribe, turn on your notifications. I do not mean to toot our own horn, Andrew, but we might be like top five in the world at analyzing Jay Lin's cultural impact. He is going to be coming back for his 14th season. He's going to be playing in Taiwan. Nobody knows if it's going to be for the Kaohsiung Steelers, but a lot of people thought he was going to walk away from the game. He said, I was ready to finish the 2023 season and potentially walk away from the game. I was 100% at peace with everything I had given and accomplished in the game. Right. I mean, man, shout out to him. He clearly has a love for the game. David, but also, you know, on our channel, we're not just going to break down Jeremy Lin's skill and everything like that. We got to break down the cultural impact. He's been mentioned in several rap songs by major rappers. You got what? I mean, what songs is he getting? Well, I think the most famous line is, but I didn't know that Andrew Jeremy Lin got mentioned in a Juice WRLD song. Juice WRLD, Young Jeezy, Meek Mill, Hoodie Allen, Rowdy Rebel. I didn't actually expect that one. Obviously, he had his own sneaker with Nike or at least like, you know, a PE. He had his own PE's with Adidas. Now he has his own sneaker line, Andrew, that is very, very, at least the later versions, very highly rated with the Chinese brand Xtep. The Jay Lin 2 SE was really good. We have two pairs and the Jay Lin 3 just dropped from Xtep. Yeah, and I just feel like Jeremy actually like, I don't know if he always meant it to be, but he's always been in the news. Like, even when he got the dreadlocks, when he went to Brooklyn, obviously that created this whole viral story. He went back and forth, Kenyon Martin. And actually, I would say he won that battle, but not that he was trying to make it a battle, by the way. But yeah, I just think that Jeremy Lin has had such a cultural impact because everything he's done has just been from a place of like, kind of being unexpected. Yeah, and I think it's in a sport that is meritocratic, whereas like, you know, shout out to everything in Hollywood and stuff like that. But sometimes you go, oh, I don't know. Did they get an Asian to check a quota or because they felt like it was Asian's turn? In the NBA, Andrew, nobody's going to give you a turn until you come and take it. No, you got to earn it. You got to play. And yeah, maybe he got definitely more attention at the time. Yeah, he got more magazine covers because he was Asian breaking stereotypes and just people had not seen that before. I get that. But I mean, anyway, you got to play the game. You got to get buckets and you got to play the game until or else they're not going to accept you in that world. We're going to be seeing Jeremy soon. Shout out to the CCYA game in Toronto this weekend. Yeah, we'll be seeing Jeremy. I don't know if we're going to talk to him about all this stuff. But anyways, we're going to talk to you about it with you guys. So let's get in the comments section. A good guy, class act. He did the most with what he had. So why not? I don't mind following some Jeremy Lin news. This was from a white person. Andrew clearly was like, you know what, man? That was a great story. And I'll tell you this, Andrew, there was nothing more electric in the sports world 11 years ago than that Linsanity run. Yeah, I mean, this next comment, Linsanity was such a marvel to watch when he was with the Knicks. Professional and polite. I understand how he shined so bright in New York and never matched the energy in other places. He is a champion, though. And I would say this. I think one of the key things about Jalen's as a person and his public image is that, man, he's just a good guy and he's kept it super clean. He hasn't done anything to really like rock the boat even. And I just feel like that to have a star that shines so bright and still shine so bright as like a person, you know, like everybody, even if they don't watch Jeremy Lin's basketball or think like, OK, maybe he he's not as good as he once was. Because some people say, oh, man, Linsanity was only 20 games. Like I was sick of it. Blah, blah, blah. I mean, obviously, this is more of a like a non-Asian opinion. But I almost think that he in a way you can make the argument he'd still deserved all the attention because he was just coming from such like a good place. Dude, you're coming from a group and doing something where people literally were like, you know, in my entire life, I never thought that was going to happen. Yeah, I would bet a lot of money that that never was going to happen. But I also think he's one of the good guys of the NBA. Of the past like 15 years, he's one of the good guys. Somebody said the guy should still be in the NBA. And then there was, of course, a lot of theories or conspiracies. Obviously, there's been a lot of talk recently about how Carmelo and James Dolan either resented or were jealous of Jalen. Baron Davis just recently did a podcast about it. What do you think about all the conspiracy theories? Right, because we are some of the biggest Jalen supporters out there, but we're not I don't necessarily buy all the conspiracy theories. I think there is usually a little bit more always going on in the background than we know about, of course. Of course, the public, we don't hear 100% of the story. I think when it comes to sports and meritocracy, though, it's a little bit less conspiracy theory than in maybe politics. You know what I mean? Like, dude, you know, and I think that there is some politics in sports, of course. Right, especially especially with the Dolan. Yeah, I just don't buy it 100%. Somebody said, man, Jeremy Lin's body didn't hold up in the NBA. He should have taken PEDs like the rest of the league. But, you know, honestly, man, Jalen, he already made his impact. But yeah, injuries are part of the game. Talk to Brandon Roy about it. Talk to T-Mac, Arvinas Sabonis, Penny Hardaway, Andrew Yao Ming had a short career. Dude, he's still I mean, 14 seasons is still more than most NBA players out there. So I think that we think that because he had the insanity and because he made it to the NBA that he is a superhuman. But it's like you already got to be one level of a superhuman to make it into the NBA and then to last more than 10 years, nine years in the NBA itself. You know, the highest, most competitive basketball league in the world by far. It's like that still you have to almost look at that and be like, I mean, he was still pretty durable given that. Yeah, I mean, I know a lot of athletes. And at the end of the day, you really have to be at peace with what you gave it. You know what I mean? Because there's ups and there's downs. And most of the time is spent in the middle, just working in the shadows, right? Yeah, I don't I don't like the fact I don't really like it when people are like kind of look at what his career did as like. Oh, it's it's whack now or something like I don't buy that idea. I'm like, what are you talking about? I do play for nine seasons in the NBA, had insanity, got the contracts, did had some very good seasons, almost was like a six man of the year candidate. And then now he's still playing in Asia and he's making an impact there. I'm like, that's that's a good career. That's a great career. Somebody said Jaylin kind of reminded me of Tony Parker. This is sort of the player comparison thing. Um, I actually compare Jaylin a lot to a player that, you know, normies wouldn't necessarily know Goran Drogic too. Goran Drogic, yeah. I mean, Jaylin does actually like a little bit of bump, bump at the elbow, takes that mid range. Larger point guard. Yeah. Um, somebody said in his prime, prime Jaylin played like current De'Aaron Fox. That's a pretty good compliment. I would say there's flashes of it because he was so fast. Straight line drives right out of the out of the triple threat. Linsanity Jaylin was was definitely like De'Aaron Fox. I could say that. Yeah. And somebody said their bodies don't look the same, but low key he kind of plays like Jaylin Brunson as well. And I think another thing people got to understand, like even though Jaylin is actually technically a score first point guard, he was great at the the dump off dimes, like finding people off the pick and roll and finding guys in the dunker spot. Like he was able to get Cody Zeller a bunch of points, Omer Oshik a bunch of points. Omer Oshik on the Rockets. Bro, like he's able to get like these second string dudes that make them look no back. Yeah. And of course, during Linsanity, um, you know, all the lobs to Tyson Chandler and Amari and stuff like that. Um, anyway, Andrew, moving on to what Jeremy could do post career, because a lot of people think, obviously, you know, he's got one to three seasons left, obviously. Um, I hope he's able to recruit some other talent, too, as well. He can win a championship in Taiwan. What do you think he could do post career? All right, so here's a list of few things. You guys let me know which one you think is most plausible in your opinion. So, um, OK, so he retires. He quits the game of basketball. He just becomes a family man, right? We know he got married. He has a kid. He just wants to do that. That's one option. What about him being a really dope assistant coach in the NBA? I would love to see. I think he could be. I think he has great relationships with a lot of different coaches out there. A lot of people like him. They know he's a very smart player. If he can't play the game anymore, he can be an assistant coach. He probably wouldn't be a head coach at first, obviously, but assistant, you move up. And then, um, he could own a Taiwanese basketball team over in the P-plus league or the. Oh, he could definitely buy one. Yeah. Or at least be buying like. I was thinking he could be like really help out on on NBA China, too. Yeah. Like is really the game. It's weird. It's tough to say, Andrew. We talk about this all the time. They love the game over there in Chinese speaking countries, whether, you know, whatever China, Taiwan, whatever. They love the game at an eight, nine or ten out of ten level. But why do you think the guard play struggles so badly? Because they got good big men. Yeah. So this question has been asked a lot on why China doesn't produce more NBA talent and particularly guards. Obviously, there was an article back then that was like Jeremy Lin could not have been produced in China in particular, right? Because the Chinese sports system, it's not the I think that the average person loves basketball a lot, like the average non-hooper. Right. You're saying just like an average guy at the park. They're there all the time. Yeah. But I think a lot of the players who get picked at a young age because they have the tall bodies and the bone structure athletic to be in a basketball, I don't think they necessarily love the game. And at that point, if given the coaching and the systems, you got to love the game to actually get better. And I do think that maybe there is a lack of creativity amongst the Chinese guards. I don't think that a lot of modern guard play is creativity, right? It's not just like, OK, the screen comes up on the left or the right. I take the screen like there's a whole rhythm to it. Rejecting and manipulating the defense, a lot of decision making. Right. And then also, for some reason, I thought China or at least Asia in general should produce better shooters. And I was like, you're saying there's no super knockdown. Yeah. I'm like, guys, there's nothing preventing people from being good shooters. Like maybe maybe China's not producing the next Giannis Anadokoumpo. But I'm like, you could produce like a KCP. Right, right, right. You're saying you can't be like a six to Brook Lopez where he can shoot, but only as a spot up. Yeah. Like when he's open, like you got to be producing some Steph Curry's and Trae Young's and buddy heels. At least we could go on and on, David. But I think the sports culture and sports coaching is a little bit better in Japan and Taiwan, relatively. Right, right, right. You know, especially Japan right now, they have better training system. So I think that Jalen could help out with that to improve it, because he knows like guards, you got to see different schemes early and in complex schemes, both offensively and defensively. You have to get that exposure. You're saying that Jalen could permanently impact how guards are trained in Asia. I'd like to see it. He could. Yeah. If they listen to him. Yeah. No, I mean, if he just did camps with all the top ones. I mean, obviously, there's other point guards that could also visit Asia as well. But, you know, like Jay Jay got. I mean, he's he's the Asian body body on how much the infrastructures are willing to shift with him. You know what I mean? Because I know Yao was like the commissioner of the CBA and he wasn't able to fully change it around, even though, you know, a little bit. Yeah, I think culture is changing, but I just think overall the desire to be good in a five on five setting across the board of the average player needs to increase. Right. You say not just loving kings of the underdog. Yeah, I just think people like streetball too much out there. Yeah. I mean, hey, guys, let us know what else you think you think Jeremy could do. I think he could also do a media company. That's obviously what LeBron, Katie and stuff. A lot of those American NBA players are planning on doing like after their careers. Yeah, I'd love to see that, man. I'd love to. I think he could go corporate. Come on. He got the Harvard background. Also, David, do you think that XTEP at all keeps the Jalen line going? Because because that is the premier basketball line. And I think they keep it going because they really built it out. He has got a cross training shoe. He's got a running shoe. He's got a takedown model. Just keep it going, man. XTEP, that's your premier basketball line. But yeah, overall, David, I mean, what do you think? I mean, to wrap it up, Jalen still got a lot of juice in the tank, not just for playing basketball, but even other things. But of course, he's going to be focusing on playing basketball in the next year. Yeah, I mean, it's tough to say the Internet discussion goes like all over the place from everywhere from like, oh, my gosh, he like he deserved to be like a superstar in the NBA and get all the reps and all the usage rate all the way to like he was just overrated and overhyped because he was Asian. They were just pumping him up to get the dollars from China to every you know what I mean? Like you see so many discussions every time Jalen's career is brought up where you're just like, are we even talking about the same thing? Yeah, everybody has a different takeaway. Like this is the reason why we're talking about the future is not that I don't want to also think about Jalen's next season. Right. But I'm also saying like everybody's always debating like the past about him like, oh, he should have done this or what if the NBA thought this or why did more scouts see this or what? I'm just like, guys, OK, I get it. Yeah. Revision is his hindsight. Yes, we get it. Sure. Whatever. But I'm just saying they didn't he didn't get back in the NBA, but look at the impact that he can make after this. And I think that's very important. And shout out to Jalen and Simu Liu for throwing the CCYA Celeb Classic this weekend in Toronto. We're going. We'll see him. It'll be good times. Hey, hey, that's already impact right there. Jeremy teaming up with Simu to make such a big event. At the very least, I've seen a lot of tall Asian guys start to believe that it's possible to at least play D1 at the very least. All right, everybody, let us know in the comments down below what you think this is coming from two huge Jalen fans. If you need the receipts, you can go look back as far as what we were making Jalen videos on a different YouTube channel like back in 2010. We actually went to go see him play Seattle University when he was at Harvard. Jalen was at Harvard. We don't need to say it and tell you even more. Also, we watched 38 at the garden that I think that I think you can watch it on HBO now. Possibly. But anyways, guys, until next time, we the Hot Pop Boys and we out. Peace.