Basketball star Lin to visit Asia this summer

TAIPEI (AFP) –

American basketball star Jeremy Lin, seen here in February 2012, is to visit Taiwan in August, his agent said Monday, his first trip to the island since a hot streak earned him a global following known as “Linsanity”.

American basketball star Jeremy Lin is to visit Taiwan in August, his agent said Monday, his first trip to the island since a hot streak earned him a global following known as “Linsanity”.

The New York Knicks point guard, whose parents are from Taiwan and whose grandmother is from China, will host a summer basketball camp in northern New Taipei City from August 27-30 attended by a group of talented teenagers.

“Lin will come with several coaches so that young basketball players in Taiwan will have the chance of taking an NBA-level training course,” a statement issued by his agent said.

Lin’s date of arrival and other details of his Asian tour have yet to be finalised. He has participated in similar camps in previous years.

Lin is the first US-born National Basketball Association (NBA) player of Taiwanese descent. His unlikely rise from the bench to help the Knicks to a series of triumphs in February this year captured attention worldwide.