New York Knicks team owner James Dolan expressed no regret in letting former starting point guard Jeremy Lin move to the Houston Rockets in the summer of 2012 despite the team's current point guard woes.
In an interview with Michael Kay, Dolan was asked to discuss why he hired Phil Jackson as team president, but the flamboyant owner did not escape questions about his past decisions, including his decision to let Lin walk away.
Lin took the league by storm when he came out of nowhere and put the Knicks back in playoff contention during the 2011-12 NBA season with his string of impressive performances, which was popularly coined as "Linsanity".
But despite averaging 14.6 points and 6.2 assists in 35 games, the Knicks did not match the offer sheet Lin signed with the Houston Rockets, leading to a surprising falling out between Knicks and Lin.
Lin signed a back-loaded three-year deal worth $25 million with the Rockets, and Dolan reiterated that such "poison pill" type of contract could have damaged the team's financial flexibility this summer - the reason why he is convinced he made the right decision not to resign the former Harvard standout.
"No," Dolan said confidently when ask if he regrets his decision to let Lin go. "No regrets with Jeremy Lin. I wish Jeremy the best of luck, but he's going to get paid $19 million next year, and imagine what our team would be like if we, you know, we'd be stuck for a long time, so no."
Previous reports indicated that Dolan was disappointed with Lin's decision to sign the offer sheet that would pay him $15 million (not $19 million as claimed by Dolan) in the third year of the deal.
Rockets' initial offer was also a three-year deal, but Lin will only receive around $9 million in the final year. The Rockets allegedly changed the contract terms to discourage the Knicks from matching the offer.
Lin, who will be playing in the final year of his contract next year, is averaging 12.4 points and 4.2 assists this season.
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