Jeremy Lin On Recent Improvement: ‘I’m Growing More As A Person Spiritually’

Jeremy Lin has seen the best the NBA has to offer — most notably during the “Linsanity” craze a few years ago — and he’s also hit rock bottom. And now, since the All Star Break, the Los Angeles Lakers guard feels like he’s finally hitting his stride.

According to the L.A. Times — and coach Byron Scott — Lin is playing the best basketball in a long time. And he credits only one source: God.

“When I was a rookie, I put myself through mental torment,” Lin said. “I can’t do that anymore. So now I’m just growing more as a person spiritually and just learning to surrender it all. It gives me a lot of peace, man. It gives me a lot of peace.”

The result? A fifty percent field goal percentage and a team-best 16.3 points per game since the break. What’s even more impressive is the fact that Jeremy has done it coming off the bench rather than as a full-time starter.

“At the All-Star break, I had a chance to get away and reset mentally,” Lin said. “I’m trying to come out in attack mode. I’m just really trying to have a very free mind when I play. It’s like while I’m playing, I’m reminding myself that regardless of the results, just play, play for God. It seems like very basic, but when you care a lot about the game, you really care about the results, obviously.”

Around this time three years ago, Jeremy Lin became a household name. After rising to newfound glory under Mike D’Antoni’s offense with the New York Knicks, the term “Linsanity” spread across the NBA, with the point guard receiving attention specifically for being undrafted, Asian, and from Harvard — yet proving himself in the league. That summer, Jeremy signed with the Houston Rockets and his star took a decidedly downward turn, never fully living up to the hype that preceded him.

Last year, the player-needy Los Angeles Lakers took a chance acquiring Lin, hoping to bolster their line-up, but the Harvard point guard had been unable to make an impact. That is, until now. Coach Byron Scott said in a recent press conference to Laker Nation that Lin has truly “elevated his game” and that the prodigious point guard has “really started to get into a little bit of a groove.”

“The ball is just moving really well and I think that’s important,” Lin said after the Lakers most recent victory. “It just flows, that’s how you make yourself tough to guard. It’s just a product of trusting each other more.”

[Jeremy Lin Photo Credit: Jeff Gross / Getty Images]