Jeremy Lin's NBA journey may finally be at it's end. An 8 year career may end in possibly the best way it could, with a ring. But at the same time, it's a career that may be ending unwillingly. Lin has been open with his desire to stick it out in the NBA, but fact is the phone just isn't ringing for him. And with his career at it's possible conclusion, I would like to look back at one of the most interesting, possibly one of the most influential and storied, careers of all time. Lin has fought discrimination his whole life. After all, Asians aren't looked at as paragons of athletic ability and he has had to carry that throughout his journey. Despite leading his high school of Palo Alto to California State Champion over the legendary Mater Dei and becoming the Northern California Division II Player of the Year, he received no scholarship offers. Only Harvard and Brown offered him a spot on their teams, everyone else said he needed to walk-on. Stanford, not exactly a power house basketball program themselves, who Lin lived right next to, failed to offer him. UCLA's then assistant coach Kerry Keating even said Lin probably would have been UCLA's starting point guard during his college career. And then came the draft. Rocket's GM Daryl Morey, a man at the forefront of basketball analytics, was quoted saying their draft model said Lin deserved to be a first round selection. Lin went un-drafted, and received only one summer league invite. The scouting report was always the same. Despite Lin's ability to fill up the stat sheet in college and high school, amassing good amount of rebounds and blocks for his position, he was always seen as too weak, too slow, not athletic enough to handle the NBA game. But once again, we can go to statistics and modelling to show that wasn't really the case. While athleticism has multiple, vaguely defined characteristics, one of the major ones is speed. John Wall, Russell Westbrook, Derrick Rose pre-injury were all thought of as athletic dynamos, and part of that is their tremendous speed and acceleration. The Rocket's measured everyone in the NBA's first two steps. The result? Lin was the fastest of them all. At least for speed, Lin is an exceptional athlete. Yet that's not the narrative. He's seen as deceptively fast, sneaky quick. Even NBA 2K19 that set out to immortalize the Linsanity Knicks with a young Lin in his prime, have his speed and acceleration rated as 85's, equal or less than the average rating of all point guards in the league. Lin has been under-rated for a large majority of his life, and that factored into his career. Lin's career has been the definition of a roller coaster, constantly reaching new highs and the very next year hitting new lows. From unoffered, undrafted and barely playing in the NBA, to Linsanity, one of the most legendary time periods in the NBA. Which unfortunately ended in injury, and led to a shaky summer, where Carmelo called Lin's contract ridiculous, and right after he was signed under the assumption of being the team's primary ball handler, the team went out and got Harden, relegating Lin to an awkward off ball role he was not used to. But this was the most successful a Lin team has been, as the Rockets made the playoffs both years he was there. Then came a cap clearing trade to the Lakers as the Rockets tried to make space for Chris Bosh. For the first time since the Knicks, Lin was in line to grab a starting, ball dominant role that he made his own in New York. Unfortunately the Lakers seemed to be tanking, and Coach Byron Scott dropped Lin in favor of an aging journeyman Ronnie Price, who never started more than 17 games in a season before. Lin even endured Did Not Play - Coach's Decisions for the first time since breaking out, a status usually reserved for bottom of the bench players, and one that Lin had not seen since Linsanity. Then came possibly the best year of Lin's career since leaving New York, as he went to the Hornets on a 2 year 4.3 million dollar deal to prove he still belonged in the League. Operating as a sixth man behind Kemba Walker, his season highlight was handing Tim Duncan and the Spurs their biggest ever blown lead, with Lin scoring 15 points in the 4th. Having successfully proven himself, he signed a three year deal with the Nets, where he once again hoped to run the show as a starting PG. But it was not to be, as Lin was constantly plagued by a hamstring injury, and he missed more than half the season. And the next year spelled the beginning for the end for Lin. In the first game of the season, Lin ruptured his pateller tendon, missing the whole season and robbing Lin of his trademark speed. His dreams of being a starting NBA point guard were once again dashed, this time by injury after injury. He was traded to the Hawks to back up incoming star Trae Young, and actually played reasonably well, offering enough value for the Toronto Raptors to claim him off waivers after Lin requested to be let go by the Hawks. With the Raptors his 3 point shot abandoned him, and he was unable to earn any minutes once normal back up Fred Van Vleet returned from injury, and despite winning the NBA championship, Lin logged less than 25 minutes in the whole playoffs, and not a single one was meaningful. Which brings us to now, where Lin cannot get an offer from an NBA team, and most seriously ponder his future in not just the league but basketball itself. Lin's career has been a whirlwind. Hardships and struggles, the lowest lows, like tearing his patellar tendon one game into a season, and also the highest highs, where he was the talk of the NBA for a few beautiful weeks. He'll own records like the most points ever in a players first 3,4 and 5 starts, but also live with the fact he never got a true chance after. He'll have his championship ring, but also know his career could've been totally different. No matter your views on Lin, his career has been a dramatic one, not to speak on his influence on the sport in general. Linsanity will always be a part of basketball, and it will be a part of every Asian basketball fan for years and years to come. Hats off to a wild career.