For most, darkness is unavoidable
Any small thing can make the fun die, for Jeremy Lin that was the move to Los Angeles. One of the few cities that has just about as much a marketing influence as New York, and near as large an Asian-American influence as Houston (shouts to Koreatown).
You couldn’t blame the optimism Lin held in moving to LA, he had friends and family who lived there and had hopes that the large market would be a perfect place to reclaim the recognition he gained in New York. Only LA would never feel like home for Lin. How could it, it was still in control of the Mamba.
In hindsight, it’s easy to see why the Kobe Bryant-Lin never seemed to work out. Jeremy was coming from a situation where he played second fiddle to James Harden, a calm and reserved leader who has never really been hesitant to have a little fun both in-game and during practices. Bryant on the other hand… yeah, he’s kind of an a-hole.
Nothin' But Nets
Everybody knows that by now. As ridiculous as it may seem, he’s always pushed the narrative that he’s a ruthless assassin who’s willing to kill his own teammates if it means winning. That’s great and all, but it just doesn’t exactly come as a welcoming sign unless you, yourself are an a-hole. Well, Jeremy Lin isn’t an a-hole.
On the floor, the two never worked out. Lin joined LA to play with pre-”retirement tour Kobe”, meaning everything on offense still ran through Bryant. Every time the Lakers had possession, Kobe was bound to touch the ball. Just about every play was drawn up for Kobe. Damn near every shot, Kobe’s. There was just no room for Jeremy, or anyone for that matter, to display their abilities. It was still Kobe Bryant’s team, and if Dwight Howard couldn’t change that in 2012, while averaging 17.1 points, 2.4 blocks and league-leading 12.4 rebounds per game in LA, then the addition of Lin definitely wasn’t going to.
What made matters worse was that Lin didn’t even get to play with the good Kobe. He played with the Kobe Bryant who shot .373 from the field and .293 from beyond the arc, but that didn’t stop the Mamba from putting up 20.4 shots per game. It was the first time, post-Achilles injury where we started to realize that the Kobe Bryant we used to know was gone and never coming back. Only Bryant himself had yet to get that memo. Meaning Jeremy Lin, Jordan Clarkson and even Swaggy P had to suffer, because Kobe wasn’t going to stop being the a-hole.
There were countless instances where Bryant would be quick to call out Lin. From an open media practice where he said, “This (expletive) don’t got (expletive),” for all to hear. To Kobe looking right at Lin and telling him to, “Get the (expletive) out of my way,” in the middle of a game while then head coach, Byron Scott stood by and did nothing. That got to Jeremy internally, but even with those instances and many others, he never let it show. In the final months of the 2014-15 season, Bryant was sidelined due to a torn rotator cuff, Lin’s offensive rating jumped to 109, the Lakers went on to finish 21-61 and Jeremy Lin decided to leave.
Lin left LA on a bitter note, yet he still kept his head held high. Teaming up with Kobe Bryant put a serious damper on his career, but he that didn’t stop him from sending personalized thank-you notes to the reporters around the Lakers organization. As if that didn’t display enough class, you should probably know that the very next season, when Lin joined the Charlotte Hornets and Bryant was in the midst of his farewell tour, Jeremy had nothing but nice things to say to Kobe, “I told him during the game, ‘Man, I’m happy for you. I hope you’re at peace because you deserve what you’re getting.'”