Basketball Star Addresses Rumor Kim Kardashian Tried Dating Him

New York Knicks legend Jeremy Lin is sharing new insight into 2012 rumors Kim Kardashian wanted to date him at the time.

More than a decade ago, Media Take Out claimed the reality TV star wanted to set up a date with the point guard. Though a source close to Kardashian told The Huffington Post the reports were “not true, and there’s never been any conversations about this,” Lin now says he heard otherwise.

Lin addressed the chatter during a June 9 appearance on the Pablo Torre Finds Out podcast, as Torre recalled seeing headlines back in the day claiming, “Kim Kardashian Wants to Meet Jeremy Lin.”

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Jeremy Lin on Kardashian Rumors

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When asked if he knew how the Kardashian talk originated, Lin shared what he heard, though he wasn’t sure how accurate the account actually was.

“This is what I’ve heard, and I don’t know if it’s true or not, but this is what I’ve heard,” he began.

“That request did come in to the Knicks, and that’s a real request. I think, basically, she, at the time, was filming her show,” he continued. “I don’t know if it was ‘Keeping Up with the Kardashians’ or whatever show was happening back then. But I know that she was looking for a New York athlete. And so, to be on this show, essentially.”

“Is this true, is it not? I don’t know, this is what was told to me afterwards,” Lin added. “Because the request came into the Knicks, they immediately declined it without even asking us.”

He said the team thought, “We’re not allowing our young, second-year player to go down this route right now.”

Torre then interjected, saying the team wouldn’t allow him to interview Lin at the time, showing just how protective they were of their star.

So far, Kardashian hasn’t commented on Lin’s latest claim.

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Lin Previously Addressed Kardashian Rumors

This isn’t the first time Lin has talked about Kardashian’s alleged interest in him.

In a 2012 interview with ESPN’s Rachel Nichols, he was to name the “weirdest paparazzi moment” for him. “Stuff about me dating Kim Kardashian, I mean, I have no idea where that came from and all these rumors,” he said at the time.

When Nicholas asked, “You don’t think you’re the Kim Kardashian type?”, he responded, “No, I don’t think I’m that type.”

He addressed the talk again in a 2022 interview with The Daily Beast.

“Yeah, I’ve never met her before,” he said, before sharing just how crazy things were for him at the height of his “Linsanity” popularity.

“There are plenty of things that came out… There are so many funny stories, and some that are really creepy. Everything that you can think of happened and everything that you can’t think of happened,” he added. “On the lighter end, BMW was like, ‘Come on down here, sign a couple of autographs, take a couple of photos, and we’ll give you a BMW.’ I was like, ‘Done.’ There were all types of brands send me free stuff,

Speaking with Torre, he also looked back at that time in his life, saying he was offered a penthouse to live in for free after living on his brother’s couch.

“The paparazzi and the fans and everything were so crazy, I couldn’t really leave unless it was midnight or something. I’d sneak out, go out the back entrance,” he recalled. “But there was a stretch when I couldn’t leave without being followed. I was on, I don’t know, the 35th floor or something, and I would always look out the window and just see which cars were down there by the lobby, [asking myself], ‘Can I leave right now or will I be followed?'”