Shaun Livingston
All the adversity and discouragement is trying to cloud your mind. But I learned to deal with it. In the end, I'm happy and thankful and blessed.Collection: Thankful
I'm a walking testimony, a product of all the people in my life and my faith.Collection: Faith
Just because it was multiple ligaments, just because of the trauma of the injury, they compared it to like a car accident. I didn't have anybody to follow, there was no timetable. I could get better, I could not get better. You just don't know. People fear what they don't know. I'm in the dark, and everything is just about faith.Collection: Car
The best part of being with the Warriors has been the team camaraderie, the team meals, the team pranks, the bond we share.Collection: Best
The organizations that I've worked with, whether I have gotten cut or whether I have excelled, the always communicated with me honestly and openly. The ones that weren't so good, the communication was iffy.Collection: Communication
I've been even-keeled my whole life.
The opportunity to play for Duke University is great, and that's the reason I chose the school.
It's important for kids to know they can be themselves, and that it's OK to have dreams and goals they love and that may not be cool or popular to other kids.
I'm taking care of my body, getting my treatment, I'm in the weight room... I'm doing everything I can to stay healthy, and hopefully the genetics kind of take over from there.
I was kind of an early bloomer. I played all the time, practiced all the time. So it just became habits, really.
When I was entering high school, my dad had me going around to different high schools, playing open gyms. A lot of coaches thought I was coming to their schools. If I would have done it over, I would have just stayed at one particular school just to play pickup basketball in the summertime.
I was kind of advanced for my age, just because I started early, when I was maybe 6 or 7 years old. And my dad always had me playing with older groups.
Oh, I never knew I was going to be a great player.
I can not express more the importance of treating your teammates, opponents and coaches with the utmost respect.
My form is improved and I'm just continuing to improve. I want to come back as a shooter. A knockdown shooter.
I think I can help push the tempo just a little bit... I feel I can get the ball after a rebound. Push the fastbreak. Push the tempo. Get guys some easy shots.
Eleven years in the league, I haven't had a dirty play. I haven't made a name in this league by playing that way.
I was struggling, and I was struggling mentally more than anything, and that will carry over to the games.
Here I am, playing with Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce, Jason Kidd is my coach, I'm in Brooklyn, New York, they lobbied for me to be here... Regardless of my circumstances, I'm here.
I play to win. If I have great numbers, that's great. Obviously you feel good about it, but still, I'm playing to win.
As long as we get the win, that's what I'm about.
I like autobiographies. I wouldn't mind making one of those.
With my time in the league, what I will be most proud of is the fact that my character, values and faith were tested, and I persevered.
I am a man of faith and faith is not always supposed to happen and what you see, sometimes it's just walking that path.
Just the passion to play the game is what kept me going.
Everybody has their own path and I believe everything happens for a reason and you kind of just rock with it.
I can be The Man. I have the skills and the tools to do it. I just have to play to my potential. I just have to be me.
Growing up watching the league, Allen Iverson was my favorite player. But once I got here, Steve Nash instantly became my favorite.
I want to show my team I'm for the team. I want them to see I'm in it for them, not for me.
I watch and learn from old Clipper games.
We all have those friends that tick to their drum, and you don't want them to tick to anybody else's drum.
I'm not like a preacher or philosopher, but at the end of the day, life is about happiness.
This is a game, don't put too much stress on yourself.
There's no way I can go back and uninjure myself.
The feeling after the first title was shock. But both feel incredible.
I always just wanted to play my game, minimize mistakes so I had the best chance to make a roster.
That's what I was trying to do: be a reliable guy, dependable guy you know wasn't going to make a lot of mistakes. Maybe not high-ceiling, high-reward, but low-risk.
I always strive to get better.
I was kind of at the turning point in my career with my knee. I was dealing with the struggles of trying to make the transition back on the court consistently and not a game here, then sit a game.
I'm only 27 but still I've had a lot of experience just playing with different teams, different coaches, different players.
Any time you sit out, it could throw off your rhythm a little bit, and I'm kind of a rhythm player.
Being in this game nine years or whatever, you understand things happen. You can only control what you control, and that's on the court. You can't make front-office decisions and other stuff. You've just got to come out and do your job. You try to do it to the best of your ability.
When you're in the right system, right fit and you got the right structure, it's easy to see certain players blossom. That was a key for me.
I want people to use my story to stand up, be strong-willed and persevere.
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.
You may have good days, there may be more bad days than good days, but on the good days you have to push yourself, get the most out of it as you can.
I'm really into kind of a 'Sixth Sense' type of movie - mysteries, thrillers a little bit.
Regardless of what anyone says, I know how hard I worked.
My speed as a tall guy is deceptive. You look at me and I might not look fast, but when I go out and play, people are left scratching their heads like 'Where did that come from?'
Coach Dunleavy has done a great job of humbling me, letting me go out there and make mistakes and I've got a great feel for the game right now.