Jeremy Lin is hanging up his sneakers after an extraordinary 15-year career in basketball that gained worldwide attention and, for a brief period in 2012, turned New York City into the heart of the basketball world.

The former NBA star revealed his retirement in an Instagram post on Saturday. He expressed that although he anticipated this moment, it was the “hardest decision I’ve ever made.”

“Competing against the toughest opponents under the brightest lights and redefining what the world envisioned for someone who looks like me has been the honor of a lifetime,” Lin, now 37, stated. “I have lived my childhood dreams of playing in front of fans all over the globe. I will always be the child who truly felt alive each time I held a basketball.”

Lin became a global sensation during a short period when he led the New York Knicks to seven consecutive victories in 2012, his inaugural season as the team’s starting point guard. “Linsanity” swept through New York City, leading the Knicks to the 2012 playoffs and making him an international celebrity.

Following his meteoric rise to fame, Lin, then just 23, graced the covers of Sports Illustrated for two consecutive weeks and was featured in Time magazine, which included him in their list of the 100 most influential people worldwide.

Time lauded his achievements, stating, “He has shattered the notion that Asian-American guards couldn’t succeed in the NBA, proving that being a top-tier athlete on the court can coexist with academic excellence off the court.”

Lin defied stereotypes as the first person of Chinese or Taiwanese descent to make it to the NBA. By the time he graduated from Harvard University in 2010, the Taiwanese American athlete had become the first player in Ivy League history to record at least 1,450 points throughout his college career.

After graduation, Lin was passed over for the NBA draft in 2010 before signing with his hometown Golden State Warriors as a free agent. After being cut by both the Warriors and the Houston Rockets in 2011, Lin signed with the Knicks at the end of the year.

For the first few weeks of 2012, Lin spent most of his games warming the bench. It wasn’t until February that he was given a chance on the court to turn around an abysmal season for the team.

At the height of his “Linsanity” run, he stirred even more audience fervor when he hit the winning three-pointer against the Toronto Raptors with less than a second left on the clock. Lin also became the first NBA player to score at least 20 points and dole out seven assists in each of his first five starts.

Lin continued his NBA career with stints on the Rockets, the Los Angeles Lakers and the Raptors, among others. While with the Raptors in 2019, he became the first Asian American player to win an NBA championship.

He later took his basketball career across the Pacific to China’s Beijing Ducks and Guangzhou Loong Lions, as well as Taiwan’s Kaohsiung Steelers and New Taipei Kings, where he ended his career this year as MVP of the Taiwan Professional Basketball League.

“So many people have sacrificed and poured into my journey, more than I could ever repay. Thank you all for believing in me, for walking with me, for celebrating my highs and picking me up in my lows,” Lin wrote in his retirement post. “This is a ride I never wanted to end but I know it’s time. I will forever miss playing basketball in front of you all but our time will go beyond just playing. Here’s to what’s ahead.”