After finishing the last season with the Los Angeles Lakers, Jeremy Lin admitted he felt burned out.
Writing in his personal blog, he said the last season burned him out in spite of his efforts to play well.
"As for me mentally, I felt pretty burnt out coming out of this past season. I felt like I gave great effort to play well, play the right way, and maintain the right perspective despite seeing very little fruit," he wrote.
He said the tiredness robbed him of his excitement to start his off-season training. It made him feel "lazy," and his enthusiasm to train waned.
"When the season first ended I felt very ... lazy. I know it's natural to feel worn out after a long year, but I was surprised by how drained I felt and how little excitement I felt to start my off-season training," he confessed in his blog.
To shrug off the tiredness, Lin took a break for three and a half weeks. He went on a trip to San Diego with friends and went on a relaxing fishing adventure. Although he admitted he caught the least number of fish, he was very proud to have caught the "coolest one" - a Red Rock Fish - and posted a picture of it in his website.
Lin continues to be a free agent after a not-so-stellar performance with the Lakers. In the last season, he averaged 11.2 points, 4.6 assists and 2.6 rebounds per game. Although these numbers are not bad, they fell quite short of the high expectations for his performance, which could have caused the Linsanity to come out of the season drained and discouraged.
Lin said that as an athlete, people see him as a celebrity and sometimes they forget that he has emotions just like anyone else. "What everyone sees is the camera, the lights, the fame, and the games, but the behind-the-scenes emotions are often not captured or highlighted," he said.
"I get discouraged, I get worn down, I get burnt out. I have doubts, thoughts of giving up, and of not being good enough. But the beautiful part is that God comes through in His unique and perfect way every time!"
After his vacation, Lin felt a new surge of excitement and began to "really miss basketball and couldn't wait to start training again."
There is still no definite news about his free agency, but there are great prospects ahead for the 26-year-old Linsanity.
As I begin my off-season I will focus on God's faithfulness, His perfect plan, and His unfailing love, he said, and concluded his blog with, "I may not know where I'm going next, but I trust Who I'm following!"
