Shaun Livingston

Did You Know?

• On September 15, 2020, the Golden State Warriors named Livingston director of players affairs and engagement.
• He won a fourth NBA championship in 2022 after the Warriors defeated the Boston Celtics in six games.
• Livingston left his executive role on June 20, 2023, to spend more time with his family outside the Bay Area.

Early years

Shaun Livingston got his start in Peoria, Illinois, leading Concordia Lutheran Grade School to LSA state titles in 1999 and 2000. He played two seasons at Richwoods High School before moving to Peoria Central, where he won consecutive Class AA state championships in 2003 and 2004. Named Illinois Mr. Basketball in 2004, he also appeared in the McDonald's All-American Game. Rivals.com rated him a five-star recruit, the top point guard and the second-best player in the country. Though he committed to Duke, Livingston chose to enter the NBA draft straight from high school.

Professional career

Livingston was selected fourth overall by the Los Angeles Clippers in the 2004 NBA draft. Because the Clippers added Sam Cassell, Livingston often played shooting guard despite his height as a point guard. On February 23, 2007, he recorded a career-high 14 assists against the Golden State Warriors. Over his first two seasons, he appeared in 91 games and averaged 6.3 points per game; in his third season, he averaged a career-best 9.3 points per game.

Injuries caused him to miss 101 of 246 regular season games in his first three years. On February 26, 2007, against the Charlotte Bobcats, Livingston dislocated his left kneecap after landing awkwardly on a missed layup, causing his left leg to snap laterally. He tore the anterior cruciate ligament, posterior cruciate ligament, and lateral meniscus, badly sprained the medial collateral ligament, and dislocated his patella and tibio-fibular joint.

A medical professional told him his leg might need amputation. He spent months rehabilitating to walk again. After the 2007–08 season, the Clippers did not extend a qualifying offer, making him an unrestricted free agent. Doctors cleared him for basketball activities on June 16, 2008.

On October 3, 2008, he signed a two-year deal with the Miami Heat, averaging 2.3 points in four games. On January 7, 2009, he was traded to the Memphis Grizzlies for a conditional second-round pick and waived the same day. He then signed with the Tulsa 66ers of the NBA Development League. On March 31, 2009, he signed a multi-year contract with the Oklahoma City Thunder, who waived him on December 22.

He later played for the Washington Wizards, Charlotte Bobcats, Milwaukee Bucks, Cleveland Cavaliers, and Brooklyn Nets before spending his final five seasons with the Golden State Warriors, retiring in September 2019.