Jeremy Lin plans to be an ambassador for the Brooklyn Nets in free agency, and he apparently already has an audience.
In an interview with JD.com, Lin revealed that five of his past teammates have shown an interest in joining his new squad. Here’s the transcription via reddit user u/C_L_I_C_K, which we were pointed to thanks to SLAM:
“I’ll be recruiting. There are already a lot of friends, past teammates of mine, asking if they could join us.
“Last year… I have about 5 of my past teammates already texted me, asking if I could recommend them (to Nets GM Sean Marks) so that they could be traded and play with us.
“I feel like for players, the most important thing is for us to be happy inside. If you enjoy your teammates, your coaches, your environment… I know a lot of players on different teams, they could be winning games, but they’re really unhappy.
Scrolling through Lin’s history of teammates, it’s unclear how excited the Nets should be about this development. But the interest proves a point: Despite a league-worst record and its draft pick situation, Brooklyn is reinventing the narrative.
Having spent (some) time around this team during the regular season, I can attest to the culture being different. The players, like Lin says, do seem close. You seldom got the feeling you were covering a team with the NBA’s worst record and no top-three pick to show for it.
This camaraderie didn’t manifest into nonchalance. It was quite the contrary. The Nets played ridiculously hard almost every night. What head coach Kenny Atkinson says resonates them. Brooklyn, as many have already documented, is prioritizing player development and unity among families, something the outside world notices.
The Nets aren’t a good team, but they’re a good franchise to play for. And they’ll have plenty of cap space this summer to leave an impression upon the free-agency ranks.
