MANILA, Philippines – The stars keep getting bigger and bigger in Taiwan’s pro basketball leagues.

Months after Dwight Howard joined the Taoyuan Leopards and catapulted the T1 League’s popularity outside Asia, the Kaohsiung Steelers of the P. League+ (PLG) are now set for their own surge of popularity after signing NBA champion Jeremy Lin on Thursday, January 26.

The 34-year-old guard made the announcement on his social media pages with the caption “Kaohsiung, here I come!”

“From the NBA, [Chinese Basketball Association], and back to Taiwan, ‘Linsanity’ is no longer far away,” the Steelers’ Facebook page said of the Taiwanese-American star.

In his last foray in the professional ranks, Lin averaged 6.9 points, 2.3 rebounds, and 2.1 assists in just 11.6 minutes per game in the CBA’s Guangzhou Loong Lions before leaving the team and returning to the US to “rest and reset,” per a Yahoo News report.

For his NBA career, the former unlikely star of the New York Knicks posted norms of 11.6 points, 4.3 assists, 2.8 rebounds, and 1.1 steals, lastly playing for the Toronto Raptors in the 2018-2019 season where he won his first NBA title.

Other notable players currently plying their craft in the P. League+ include former NBA 2013 No. 1 pick Anthony Bennett, NBA champion Jeff Ayres, and Lin’s Charlotte Hornets-turned-Kaohsiung teammate Aaron Harrison. Lin’s brother Joseph also plays for the New Taipei Kings.

Former Filipino college star Ricci Rivero also signed a contract with the league’s Taoyuan Pilots after his time in the UAAP before being released due to an untimely injury. – Rappler.com