After gruesome injury, Shaun Livingston thriving
Shaun Livingston once lay in a Los Angeles hospital bed, his future mobility spinning in doubt.
Livingston tried not to contemplate the grim possibilities, which included the end of his promising NBA career.
[...] at 30, Livingston is an indispensable player on the best basketball team on the planet.
Head coach Steve Kerr called Livingston an “inspiring human being.”
Livingston often hears similar sentiments from fans on social media, praising his perseverance in overcoming such a horrific injury and his persistence over a nomadic career with 10 stops.
Livingston helped the Warriors win an NBA title, visited the White House and capably replaced Curry in the cauldron of the playoffs.
Livingston vividly remembers lying in his hospital bed, awash in uncertainty.
[...] more than any other player on these rampaging Warriors, he appreciates the past two seasons.
As Livingston suggested, it’s practically a fantasy: all those wins, the championship, the Curry phenomenon, the camaraderie.
[...] yet, this Warriors express train easily could have derailed against Houston or Portland because of Curry’s absence.
The tissue surrounding his kneecap had been ripped to shreds, and he dislocated his femur, tibia and patella.
[...] after the surgery in Birmingham, Ala., he launched his long and arduous rehabilitation, learning to walk again.
Kerr worked some Nets playoff games as a broadcaster — Brooklyn reached the conference semifinals before losing to Miami — and noticed Livingston still had “bounce” in his legs.
Myers loved Livingston’s length at 6-foot-7 and pictured him teaming with Klay Thompson and Iguodala to form a disruptive defensive trio.