FANS MOBBED AMERICAN basketball star Jeremy Lin on Friday as he celebrated his birthday with his family in Hong Kong.
The 24-year-old son of Taiwanese parents told reporters that he was enjoying the city but had been unable to visit all the sights because of a “bit of paparazzi issue”, amid huge popular excitement over his visit.
“It’s a beautiful city. I like it a lot,” he said.
Lin is in the former British colony to launch a basketball charity for poor children and share his Christian faith at a church service that is expected to attract thousands of believers on Sunday.
Lin shot to stardom last season with the New York Knicks, dazzling fans with his clutch shooting and passing skills.
After playing just 55 minutes in the Knicks’ first 23 games, Lin was almost solely responsible for the turnaround in the team’s fortunes.
The New York outfit won seven games in a row after Lin began to get significant game time and though his incredible performances dropped towards the end of the season, the Knicks still unexpectedly made the playoffs.
Last month, he signed a three-year, $25 million contract with the Houston Rockets.
“We are going to be young, we are going to be inexperienced,” he said of his new team.
“We have a chance to build a new team, to build a new culture and to start from the ground.”
