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Greivis Vasquez on Shaun Livingston: 'We were similar players, able to run a team'
Greivis Vasquez: In the NBA, 90 percent of players are role players. There’s only one LeBron James, one Steph Curry, and a few other superstars. The rest fulfill specific roles. Young players coming into the league shouldn’t focus on being the star, but on what they can bring to the team that’s different from the stars. My career was about fulfilling a role. I never had the chance to play for a team like Golden State, where a role player like Shaun Livingston thrived. But we were similar players, able to run a team. If I had been in the same position as him, I believe I could have done the same thing. You have to understand that most players in the NBA are there to complement the stars, not be the stars themselves.
Shaun Livingston: "When KD came in, it was a shock. I was sitting in the barber’s chair, and I remember seeing on my phone, 'KD to the Warriors.' I showed the barber, and he was shocked. It really hit home when he got into training camp and walked through the door. I played in OKC with James, Russell, and KD in their first two years when they were young guys. But by this time, it’s KD. Watching him, I remember watching him warm up and go through his workout for the first time. I was just sitting there like a fan. We already won a championship by this time. We felt like we were made men, but we were watching him like a fan."
Shaun Livingston: "After I got injured, it was just me battling myself every day. You don’t get that rise out of going against someone else. It’s you against you. You’re going to physical therapy six days a week, learning how to walk again. I’m already skinny, lost all the muscle in my leg. I’m looking at myself like, 'Damn, I’m really looking like this?' When you first look at yourself after the injury, you’re like, 'What did you think?' I thought I’d be alright, I’d be cool. I’ve been injured before, but I didn’t realize the severity of it. It was real trauma, a car accident type of injury."
Dallas head coach Jason Kidd has found Exum’s resurgence reminiscent of Shaun Livingston, the lanky ball-handler who joined Kidd’s 2013-14 outfit in Brooklyn, and parlayed that strong campaign into a three-year deal with the champion Golden State Warriors. Livingston was the fourth pick out of high school in 2004, a promising 19-year-old rookie, before a devastating knee and leg injury curbed his third season. “[Exum] had setbacks with injuries," Kidd says. "Coming back and finally getting into the league. Understanding his basketball IQ is extremely high. He knows how to play the game.”
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Starring Keith David, Salli Richardson and Michael B. Jordan, Pastor Brown was released in 2009 and later aired on TV through Lifetime. A 2008 story from The Hollywood Reporter describes Oakley and former NBA player Shaun Livingston as executive producers. Not only was Oakley unpaid for his investment in Pastor Brown, but he wasn’t paid any profits, either. Worse yet, Oakley asserts, Belser illicitly used Oakley’s NIL to assuage additional investors “that Pastor Brown had legitimate and substantial financial partners” and then enter into various production agreements.
“The Bay!” Shaun Livingston said, raising his voice. “Being in Oakland, the fans, seeing the passion that the Bay had. The diversity. All of it was attractive. And they accepted me as one of their own. It was good. The first thought that comes to mind is, ‘Thank you!’ The fans, and I’m talking about the real ones, the people that were there before there was the Splash Brothers, before all the nicknames and brands. To the real fans and the people that supported the team and the players, investing their time and energy and money, I just want to say: ‘Thank you.’”
“It was the timing,” Livingston, 37, said of his decision to leave Golden State’s front office. “It was more about home and family, watching my kids grow up. Being there for the kids. They’re at the age where I want to be more involved. I don’t want to miss out on those moments. “This was about doing what’s important. I don’t want to look back and regret this. I’d rather regret not working with the Warriors than not being there with my kids.”
Shaun Livingston: 'Kobe Bryant shot a fadeaway with the left on me, how disrespectful is that!'
Clutch Points: “[Kobe] shot a fadeaway with the left on me, like, how disrespectful is that? Just that he tried it, you know what I’m saying? In an NBA game!” Shaun Livingston shares a story of playing against Kobe Bryant early in his career 😂 (via @shobasketball) pic.twitter.com/W00M5F5jRL
“[Kobe] shot a fadeaway with the left on me, like, how disrespectful is that? Just that he tried it, you know what I’m saying? In an NBA game!”
— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) June 20, 2023
Shaun Livingston shares a story of playing against Kobe Bryant early in his career 😂
(via @shobasketball)pic.twitter.com/W00M5F5jRL
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Dalton Johnson: Source: Shaun Livingston will not be with the Warriors next season. He spent the last three seasons in the front office as director of players affairs and engagement The decision was Livingston’s to spend more time with family. Livingston won’t be living in the Bay Area
Talking with Matt Barnes and Stephen Jackson on SHOWTIME Basketball, Livingston recently provided more insight on the injury which kept him off the court for the better part of two years. “I dislocated my knee, tore three out of four of my ligaments in my knee. They basically compared it to a car crash. 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.”
Dalton Johnson: The players that Bob Myers specifically has mentioned and thanked: Steph Curry, Draymond Green, Klay Thompson, Andre Iguodala, Kevon Looney and Kevin Durant Also: Jordan Poole, Andrew Wiggins, Shaun Livingston, David West, Zaza Pachulia, Andrew Bogut and Leandro Barbosa
Shaun Livingston is a trusted voice with a bright future in the executive world, should he choose to stay down that path. Nick U’Ren, Jonnie West, Ryan Atkinson, Larry Harris, Pabail Sidhu (analytics) and Onsi Saleh (cap expert) are other established members of a built out front office structure.
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