Haslem: Lin asked us to pray that he doesn’t get cut in chapel.
Often, players talk of health or loved ones or maybe a friend going through a tough time. Haslem has been attending these chapels for eight NBA seasons and has heard it all.
Until this one.
Lin did something Haslem never heard before.
“Can you pray I don’t get cut?” Lin told the pastor and other players.
This wasn’t a joke or a passing thought. Lin already was cut twice, after all. He felt he was at the end again.
Haslem never had played against Lin, never talked with him, never even seen him before this chapel. But he looked at him that night and immediately appreciated his story.
Haslem knows what it’s like to go undrafted, to be not wanted by any team and forge a career through hard work and self-belief.
“I understood where he was coming from,” Haslem said.
The pastor prayed for Lin that night. Haslem did, too. Then Lin went out and did what he usually did. He didn’t play in the Heat’s win.
“But a week later it was da-da-da,” Haslem says, giving the ESPN SportsCenter entry noise.
