Shaun Livingston’s challenging NBA career and enduring legacy

Physical recovery

Livingston had to learn to walk again after enduring an ugly and painful period of rehabilitation. He told The Undefeated:

"The knee was all deformed, bloodied up and leaking with puss. I just couldn’t move it. Stiff. It was like I had a spare leg. All of my quad was skinny. It was like a pole with a pineapple in the middle of it."

In The Players’ Tribune article Livingston wrote entitled Rehab Diaries: Shaun Livingston, he reveals how he’s never seen footage of his injury. He doesn’t want to, he won’t, he can’t. He mentions how he can’t watch footage of injuries at all listing Derrick Rose and Paul George, other players who have had serious injuries and explaining he has no idea how they happened.

At the time of Livingston’s injury, YouTube was in its infancy and he reflected on how before him, replays of injuries hadn’t been sought out for entertainment. He also remembered how a nurse casually mentioned the possibility of amputation at a point when the 21-year-old was still expecting to be only out six to eight months.

He also mentioned how he heard the “shrieking and laughter” of guys in the hallways of the hospital watching ESPN replaying footage of his injury. I can’t even begin to fathom the level insensitivity it would take to watch something like that within earshot of the person it happened to in the first place. And then to not even have the decency to control the volume of your reactions as you watch someone’s life be irreversibly changed?!

It reminds me of Game 5 of the NBA Finals when Kevin Durant went down with his torn ACL and a number of Toronto Raptors‘ fans at the Scotiabank Arena collectively took momentary leave of their senses and cheered. It was not a typically Canadian reaction, it certainly didn’t include everyone in attendance and it didn’t go on long. But it’s a reminder that it’s easy to forget that basketball players are human beings first. Not simply the objects of our entertainment. And the media does little to help keep that in perspective.

Livingston was aware that his and other players’ injuries were things that some people were going to seek out for entertainment and that the media would milk for “shock value”.  He knew he couldn’t control that, but he could control his own attitude and use his story to help others. He finished The Players’ Tribune article by saying:

"I think my story and my process can be helpful for other guys, so I’m going to use this space to tell it. I’ll go into the details of my injury, surgery and rehab, but I won’t be boring about it. I plan to give you all the gory details, but also a look into the other athletes I turned to and the teammates who gave me strength. Of course, not everyone was my champion, so I plan to address some of my doubters here, too. Check back soon for my next entry. You’re all going to YouTube now, aren’t you?"

Livingston missed the entire 2007- 08 season and about 16 months after the injury on March 7, 2008, Dr. James Andrews who performed the surgery to repair Livingston’s knee released a statement that said the stability of the knee was excellent. That some tendinitis that needed more time to settle down and would require roughly four more weeks to address.

As a result, Livingston was not yet ready for competitive play. And while it would still take some more time, Livingston was expected to make a full recovery.