Jeremy Lin has reflected on the mental strain and instability that marked the start of his NBA career, describing a period shaped by self-doubt, uncertainty, and the pressure of trying to survive in the league without a clear sense of security.

“My rookie year, I had a horrible year because I had imposter syndrome,” Lin said on 7PM in Brooklyn with Carmelo Anthony, via HoopsHype, recalling how his path to the NBA never felt predetermined. “I didn’t come from a background where anybody ever said you could make the NBA. It was never a reality. It was like, you’re crazy. You think you can make the NBA?”

Lin entered the league in 2010 as an undrafted guard and appeared in 29 games for the Golden State Warriors as a rookie, averaging 2.6 points in 9.8 minutes per game while shooting 38.9% from the field. His early production reflected a marginal role, with limited opportunity and no guarantee of roster stability.

Across his first two seasons, Lin bounced between organizations before landing with the New York Knicks in 2011-12, where he played 35 games and averaged 14.6 points and 6.2 assists. That stretch included his breakout “Linsanity” run, but Lin said the instability behind the scenes never fully disappeared.

“I drove in $100 million in revenue. I got paid $400,000 and then I got dropped,” Lin said. “And I never got an offer in free agency. And I’m like, my exit from the New York Knicks crushed me.”

Lin’s tenure in New York ended after that breakout season, and he moved to the Houston Rockets, where he posted 13.4 points and 6.1 assists across 82 games in 2012-13. Despite solid production across multiple teams, he noted that his career often felt fragile, with contracts and roles never fully secure.

Over nine NBA seasons, Lin averaged 11.6 points and 4.3 assists in 480 games, including stops in Golden State, New York, Houston, Los Angeles, Charlotte, Brooklyn, Atlanta and Toronto. His most consistent stretch came in Houston, where he started 82 games in 2012-13, but even that stability was temporary.

Lin said he later sought therapy and sports psychology support to process the emotional weight of his early career volatility.

“I went to therapy around this,” he said. “There was trauma from early in my career that I wasn’t able to get past… How do I trust people? How do I not feel like the other shoe is going to drop?”

He described a persistent anxiety during successful stretches, a mindset where improvement never fully eased concern about losing his place in the league.

“When things were going well, I was kind of like, yeah, but something bad is going to happen,” Lin said.

Lin’s career eventually stabilized into a respected veteran role, including a 2015-16 Sixth Man of the Year voting finish with Charlotte, but he emphasized that the psychological impact of his early years lingered well beyond his breakout moment.