Jeremy Lin shares ‘key’ differences between NBA and EASL basketball

At this stage of his career,Jeremy Lin has experienced nearly everything that basketball has tooffer.

From humble beginnings in theBay Area to his insane ‘Linsanity’ run in New York to enduringcareer-altering injuries to winning a title with the Raptors in2019, Lin had a lengthy and fruitful NBA career.

Now, Lin is embarking on thenext chapter of his pro-basketball career. Lin, whose parents areof Taiwanese descent, is determined to deliver a title toTaiwan.

The 35-year-old is playing withthe New Taipei Kings in the East Asia Super League, a fast-growing league that featuresthe best basketball clubs in East Asia. They will face offagainst Japan’s Chiba Jets in the semifinals, which will alsofeature teams from Korea and the Philippines.

Lin is no stranger to high-levelbasketball. After battling the best of the best throughout his timein the NBA, he's now leading the Kings against Asia’s best.However, he lists two key differences between the style ofbasketball played in the NBA and EASL: spacing andphysicality.

“In the NBA, you have defenseduring the key and a longer three-point line and other stuff… sothey promote a lot of spacing, they promote a lot of scoring [and]it's a lot easier getting into the paint," Lin said in an interviewwith BasketballNews.

The East Asia Super League issanctioned by FIBA and uses its rules. In this setting, thethree-point line is shorter, the court is smaller and there is nodefensive three-second rule (which basically allows centers to playdeep in the paint and camp under the rim).

Furthermore, Lin adds that theEASL is much more physical than the NBA: “Here, it’s much more physical. You get a lotmore contact – you just gotta grind it more out here."

Finally, Lin stressed that theNBA’s star power is just different. Facing all-world talents likeKevin Durant, Steph Curry and LeBron James makes the NBA differentfrom every other league in the world.

“Obviously the NBA, you’retalking about world-class – the best of the best talent-wise," Linsaid. "On any given night, you’re seeing just insane talent. But,you know, that’s not to say anything about the players not in theNBA because there are a ton of great players around the world, butyou’re seeing [Durant, Curry, LeBron] night in and night out andthey’re obviously phenomenal players."