Former Golden State Warriors guard Shaun Livingston has called it a career in the NBA, making the news known Friday via posts on social media.
In his Instagram post, Livingston wrote the following: “After 15 years in the NBA, I’m excited, sad, fortunate and grateful all in one breath. Hard to put into a caption all of the emotions it takes to try and accomplish your dreams. I wasn’t supposed to be here. Anybody that has beat the odds understands the mental and emotional strain it takes to inspire yourself on an uphill war, let alone inspire others.
” ‘The injury’ gave me a chance to find and prove to myself (and the world) that I wouldn’t be defined by my circumstances. 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.”
Livingston won three championships with the Warriors and played 15 seasons in the NBA after being the No. 4 overall pick of the 2004 draft by the LA Clippers. His career was marked by his valuable backup role with the Warriors as well as a gruesome knee injury he suffered in the 2006-07 season against the Charlotte Hornets.
It took Livingston nearly two years to return to an NBA court, but he did, playing four games for the Miami Heat in the 2008-09 season. From there, he became a valuable backup guard, spending time with the Oklahoma City Thunder (2008-09), Washington Wizards (2009-10), Charlotte Bobcats (2010-11), Milwaukee Bucks (2011-12), Washington Wizards and Cleveland Cavaliers (2012-13) before signing with Golden State in the summer of 2014.
He is just the second player in NBA history to complete a tenure of at least five seasons with a team having made an NBA Finals appearance in each season, joining Tom Heinsohn, who did so in all nine of his seasons with the Boston Celtics from 1956-65.
In his career, Livingston averaged 6.3 points, 3 assists and 2.4 rebounds per game over 833 career games. He was waived by the Warriors in early July.
