Way back in the Long, Long Ago of February 2012, Jeremy Lin came off the New York Knicks’ bench to surprise and delight the Madison Square Garden crowd with a 25-point, seven-assist, five-rebound takeover that knocked off the New Jersey Nets:

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An awful lot has changed since then.

The Nets moved from New Jersey to Brooklyn, went all-in with a record-setting payroll and titanic win-now moves for veteran stars to pursue an NBA championship, only to see the ship run aground in the second round of the playoffs, most of those stars leave town, two coaches fired and a general manager shuffled off as the franchise now sets about the business of rebuilding with precious few assets to use in the process.

Lin went from the end of the bench to the top of the world, authored a brilliant February that briefly made the always-moribund Knicks nationally relevant and made him an international sensation, left the Knicks in restricted free agency over (among other things) a contractual dispute, had up-and-down seasons with the Houston Rockets and Los Angeles Lakers, and after taking a short-money deal, re-established himself as a valuable ball-handler and scorer for a Charlotte Hornets club that shocked the league to post the franchise’s highest win total this millennium.

All those twists and turns along the way for both parties began with one big game at the Garden.

Jeremy Lin's breakout NBA game came against the Nets. As Deron Williams once said of Linsanity: "This all started on me." — Brian Mahoney (@briancmahoney) July 1, 2016





Now, nearly 4 1/2 years later, the two parties are coming together again in hopes of rediscovering that magic:





Adrian Wojnarowski of The Vertical reported Friday morning that Lin and the Nets had agreed to terms on a three-year, $36 million deal that will bring the point guard back to New York, albeit with a home-gym address in a different borough this time around.

As suggested by Rick Bonnell of the Charlotte Observer and ESPN.com’s Zach Lowe, Lin — who will hold a player option for the third year of the deal — appeared to jump at the chance to reunite with new Nets head coach Kenny Atkinson, who was an assistant on Mike D’Antoni’s staff with the Knicks when he first broke through back in 2012. The two developed a strong bond during their time together, as Lin told Andrew Keh of the New York Times back in April:

“I’ve kind of been saying it was just a matter of time for [Atkinson to get a head coaching job] because I know how good he is, I know how much he was there for me in New York,” Lin said. “When you’re around him, you kind of understand there’s something different about him: his energy, his passion, the juice he approaches his work with.”

Lin added: “He doesn’t leave any stone unturned. He’s always the first one in, and I’m saying first one in by, like, hours.”

Lin’s agreement comes three days after Woj reported that the Nets intended to move on from incumbent point guard Jarrett Jack, who had been Brooklyn’s starter before tearing the anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee in January, and one day after the Nets officially waived Jack, signalling an interest in finding his replacement in free agency. After news broke Friday morning that they’d reached terms with Lin, Jack raised some eyebrows with his response on Twitter:

Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahah — JARRETT JACK (@Jarrettjack03) July 1, 2016





… though the vet then insisted that his tweet had nothing to do with Lin coming to Brooklyn:

There are more things that make me laugh more than basketball please don't feed into the dumb stuff — JARRETT JACK (@Jarrettjack03) July 1, 2016





Guess the timing wasn't the best but oh well — JARRETT JACK (@Jarrettjack03) July 1, 2016





… which, y’know, sure!

After proving a dynamic and versatile complementary role-playing piece in Charlotte’s backcourt last season, performing well both as a backup point guard behind starter Kemba Walker and as an attacking shooting guard alongside Walker in two-point-guard lineups aimed at maximizing playmaking and floor-spacing, Lin figures to have the inside track on the starting point guard job for a Brooklyn club that returns no triggermen from the 2015-16 squad, and slots only incoming rookie Isaiah Whitehead at the position after June’s draft. As his many advocates will surely note, Lin did show signs that he could perform like a star when given the reins of the Hornets’ offense.