Carmelo Anthony and Baron Davis said they tried to get Jeremy Lin on board with turning Linsanity into a a cash cow, but he wanted no part of it.
Anthony, Davis and Lin were all teammates on the Knicks when Linsanity took over New York in 2012 — when Lin rose to fame during an inspiring 12-game stint when he averaged over 22 points and nine assists after the Knicks called him up to the league.
During the latest installment of his “7PM in Brooklyn” podcast, which Anthony co-hosts with comedian The Kid Mero, Anthony and Davis, who was a guest on the show, explained that Lin missed out on a $100 million business opportunity by not capitalizing on Linsanity.
“People always talk about how nobody liked the Linsanity era [in 2012], personally me. You get what I’m saying?” Anthony, who retired in May 2023, said, referring to those who believed he was jealous of the point guard’s success with the Knicks.
“Yeah, they had thrown that out there, but people don’t know that behind the scenes were very supportive. We used to be in the locker room trying to get him…”
That’s when Davis chimed in.
“He didn’t even know how to get a deal,” Davis said, to which Anthony emphasized, “A deal!”
Davis added that “everybody and their momma was calling” Lin.
“Linsanity could have been a $100 million business easy and I’m trying to get this through to him,” Anthony recalled.
“Yeah he wasn’t trying to hear that s–t from nobody,” Davis said.
“He was like, ‘Nah, I’m not brought up on that, my parents,'” Anthony explained. “But I respected that. I hear that, matter of fact, bring your parents in here, let us talk to them… It was [happening] so fast.”
Davis described that time as a “magical” two weeks when Lin led the Knicks to 10 wins in 13 games in the 2012 season.
“There was 100 media in the locker room,” he said. “Could you change in the locker room? No. We all changed everywhere else.”
Throughout his career, Lin had stints with the Warriors, Rockets, Lakers, Hornets, Nets, Hawks and Raptors. He was part of the 2019 Raptors team that won the franchise’s first championship.
Lin, now 35, currently plays for New Taipei Kings of the P. League+ in Taiwan, alongside his brother Joseph Lin, who is also on the team.
He signed with the team for his 14th professional season last September after he hinted at retirement in an emotional post on Instagram in 2021.
In it, Lin expressed his frustration over not getting an NBA opportunity following an impressive G League season with the Santa Cruz Warriors.
Lin announced in a Facebook post in January 2023 that he married his longtime partner, Kristina Wong, “a couple years ago,” adding the intimate ceremony was the “highlight” of his life.