Jeremy Lin fesses up in an upcoming magazine cover story he not only wanted to remain in New York the next three seasons, he wanted to retire a Knick.

“You can’t ask for a city or a fan base to embrace somebody more than they embraced me,” Lin said in a 4,300-word piece hitting newsstands today. “I know it’s kind of silly to talk about it with only two years under my belt in the league, but going in before free agency, I was like, ‘I want to play in front of these fans for the rest of my career.’ I really did.

“I really wanted to play in front of the Madison Square Garden fans for the rest of my career, because they’re just unbelievable.”

It didn’t happen that way. After Lin and Houston general manager Daryl Morey ramped up the initial three-year offer sheet by backloading it more severely, the Knicks, furious at the change, balked and obtained Raymond Felton. The final year of Lin’s $25 million contract was raised to $14.5 million, and it scared off owner James Dolan because of the new luxury-tax penalties.

Lin is averaging 5.3 points in 22 minutes in three preseason games, shooting just 21 percent (4 of 19). He has averaged a respectable 4.7 assists, but reports suggest his defense is lagging. Last week, Lin admitted to Houston writers his knee surgery to repair a torn meniscus has left him not fully 100 percent. He sat out last night’s exhibition game in Dallas.

via Marc Berman of the New York Post