- Shaun Livingston suffered a near career-ending injury in his third season
- Livingston missed the entire 2007-08 season
- Livingston returned from his injury to win three NBA titles with the Golden State Warriors
Shaun Livingston had all the potential to become a star in the NBA. This was especially true since he was a 6’8″ point guard. Then, an injury to his knee on February 26, 2007, nearly ended his career.
“I dislocated my knee, tore three out of four of my ligaments in my knee. They basically compared it to a car crash,” Livingston explained. “A lot of skiers have that kind of accident. And of course, they were talking about the whole amputation and all that. They threw that around early because of blood flow and all that.”
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Livingston would miss the entire 2007-08 season as he tried to recover from this horrible injury. The 6’8″ point guard made a recovery, and after bouncing around to a few teams, he ended up on the Golden State Warriors in the 2014-15 season.
As a member of the Warriors, Livingston helped the team win three NBA championships in five seasons.
Shaun Livingston’s Career Retrospective
Shaun Livingston was a high school standout basketball player, first playing at Richwoods High School before transferring to Peoria Central High School. It was at Peoria where Livingston led his school to back-to-back Class AA state titles in 2003 and 2004.
In 2004, Livingston was listed as the No. 1 point guard and the No. 2 player in the nation. This led to many colleges showing interest in the point guard.
As for Livingston, he was initially intrigued to go to Duke, but he changed his mind and entered the 2004 NBA Draft as a high school prospect. NBA teams thought highly of Livingston and his potential.
This led to the Los Angeles Clippers selecting Livingston fourth overall in the Draft. Livingston didn’t see much playing time in his first two seasons, only appearing in 91 games.
Livingston found a more stable role in his third year until the freak injury occurred in a game against the Charlotte Bobcats. It would take 16 months before Livingston was cleared to play again.
Once cleared, Livingston made his return, this time as a member of the Miami Heat on
October 29, 2008. Livingston only played 4:20 minutes, but he was back, and he scored in his return, nailing two free throws.
Livingston would still have problems with his knee swelling after games, and this lasted until April 2010. After making some stops on the Heat, Oklahoma City Thunder, Washington Wizards, Charlotte Bobcats, Cleveland Cavaliers, and Brooklyn Nets, Livingston found a home with the Warriors.
The rest is history, as they say. Livingston played a big role on the Warriors as a constant mid-range threat, and the perfect player to get the team’s offense started.
Livingston has to feel good about his career. It’s not easy to come back from an injury that could’ve ended his career and win three NBA championships.
But Livingston achieved this while doing it with class.
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