- The Toronto Raptors defeated the Golden State Warriors 114-110 on Thursday night to win their first NBA championship in franchise history.
- While Kawhi Leonard was named NBA Finals MVP in a near-unanimous vote, on Twitter, fans instead celebrated NBA journeyman Jeremy Lin for getting his first championship ring.
- Lin's status in NBA mythos was already sealed forever thanks to his days in New York, but after Thursday, he's also a champion for life.
- Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.
The Toronto Raptors defeated the Golden State Warriors 114-110 on Thursday night to win their first NBA championship in franchise history.
While Kawhi Leonard was named NBA Finals MVP in a near-unanimous vote, on Twitter, fans instead celebrated a player that barely took the court for the Raptors this postseason — Jeremy Lin.
Read more: Toronto Raptors beat the Golden State Warriors to win their first championship in franchise history
After going undrafted in 2010, Lin briefly became an NBA sensation in 2012, when he became the unlikely hero of the New York Knicks and introduced the world to "Linsanity."
Since then, Lin has stayed in the league as a journeyman, spending time with the Rockets, Lakers, Hornets, Nets, and Hawks, before joining the Raptors bench in February 2019.
Lin played just 27 minutes this postseason for the Raptors, but when the final buzzer sounded on Thursday night, he became a champion. On Twitter, fans celebrated his success with praise, love, and some jokes at the expense of other players around the league.
Some said he'd never win a title.
— CBS Sports (@CBSSports) June 14, 2019
Some said he was washed up.
But he kept grinding.
He kept going.
Now, Jeremy Lin is an NBA Champion. pic.twitter.com/eP2F0J6Wt5
INCASE YALL NEEDED PROOF pic.twitter.com/CGUI8qwxuA
— Gary Striewski (@garystriewski) June 14, 2019
Jeremy Lin won a NBA championship and that’s all I care about right now 😭😭😭😭😭 pic.twitter.com/L9v24rtizc
— j. (@ilyunclout) June 14, 2019
Jeremy Lin got a ring before all of these guys pic.twitter.com/eeOmivO5Pz
— Griffin Lafayette (@LafayetteGriff) June 14, 2019
The real winner of the nba finals has to be jeremy lin. Man got paid 700k to sit court side and watch the nba finals💯💸 #RaptorsvsWarriors pic.twitter.com/6Yojz07u55
— Gurjant Singh (@Kawhi_Szn) June 14, 2019
All I’m saying is the Raptors didn’t win a championship until Jeremy Lin was on the team
— Cameron Magruder (@ScooterMagruder) June 14, 2019
Jeremy Lin won a ring before
— Curry with the brick🐜 (@KazxKage) June 14, 2019
Carmelo Anthony
James harden
Chris Paul
😂😂😂 pic.twitter.com/7LIHdPcilJ
Someone already updated Jeremy Lin's wikipedia page. pic.twitter.com/cEPYpdelnf
— Big Enos Burdette (@therealbaber) June 14, 2019
Lin's status in NBA mythos was already sealed forever thanks to his days in New York, but after Thursday, he's also a champion for life.
- Read more from Tyler Lauletta:
Raptors fans are raising money for Kevin Durant's charity after some cheered his injury
Kawhi Leonard struggled to understand why his teammates weren't as good as him in college
Join the conversation about this story »
NOW WATCH: New York City is getting even more infested with rats. Here's why cities can't get rid of them.
http://bit.ly/2XO14ty
Business and Marketing support on the best price; Hit the link now----> http://bit.ly/2EadkNl