I speak Mandarin and can read and write a little. I took a few classes at Harvard to get better in my reading and writing skills.

Lin had played only 55 minutes through the Knicks' first 23 games but he unexpectedly led a turnaround of an 8–15 team that had lost 11 of its last 13 games. He was waived by the Warriors and the Rockets the following preseason before joining the New York Knicks early in the 2011–12 season. Shirley helped form a National Junior Basketball program in Palo Alto where Lin played.

Lin is one of the few Asian Americans in NBA history and the first American of Chinese or Taiwanese descent to play in the league. He was waived by the Warriors and the Rockets the following preseason before joining the New York Knicks early in the 2011–12 season. After receiving no athletic scholarship offers out of high school and being undrafted out of Harvard University Lin reached a partially guaranteed contract deal in 2010 with his hometown Golden State Warriors.