{"id":428,"date":"2014-04-02T21:13:39","date_gmt":"2014-04-03T02:13:39","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/com.bradley.edu\/newslab\/?p=428"},"modified":"2014-04-29T09:36:41","modified_gmt":"2014-04-29T14:36:41","slug":"peorian-hoops-prodigy-proves-perseverance-pays-off","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/com.bradley.edu\/newslab\/2014\/04\/02\/peorian-hoops-prodigy-proves-perseverance-pays-off\/","title":{"rendered":"Peorian hoops prodigy proves perseverance pays off"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Kelly O\u2019Brien<\/p>\n

If you listened closely to the public address announcer at Madison Square Garden<\/a> Wednesday night as he read the starting lineup<\/a> for the visiting Brooklyn Nets<\/a>, you probably heard something familiar\u2014something that sounds like home.<\/p>\n

\u201cFrom Peoria Central High School<\/a>\u2026Shaun Livingston<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n

In 2007 Livingston feared his name would never resonate through the rafters of an NBA<\/a> arena again as he lay in a hospital bed with a career-threatening knee injury.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

In his fourth season with the team that drafted him in 2004, the Los Angeles Clippers<\/a>, Livingston was touted as a key part of the franchise\u2019s future.\u00a0 But with torn ligaments and a dislocated patella among other injuries<\/a> in his left knee, Livingston needed to focus on walking again before even thinking about playing.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Livingston suffers a severe knee injury (Photo courtesy of NYDailyNews.com).<\/p><\/div>\n

After more than a year of rehab and surgery, Livingston returned for the 2008-2009 season, but his multi-million dollar salary did not.\u00a0 Forced into free agency, he joined the Miami Heat<\/a> and Memphis Grizzlies<\/a> for brief stints, taking a 91.6 percent decrease in pay from the previous season, dropping from $4,404,629 to $370,000, according to data from Basketball-Reference.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The loss of money didn’t faze him.\u00a0 He took yet another pay cut the next year with the Oklahoma City Thunder<\/a> before he was rewarded for his determination to play in spite of little pay.\u00a0 In the 2010-2011 season, the Charlotte Bobcats<\/a> offered him a deal that nearly matched his average pre-injury salary of $3.54 million.<\/p>\n

\"Livingston<\/a><\/p>\n

Charlotte proved to be yet another temporary home for Livingston, as he continued to bounce around the league in search of a permanent residence.\u00a0 Though he has traveled throughout the country, Livingston’s roots remain in Peoria<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Long before playing in front of 20,000 in New York<\/a>\u2019s \u201cThe Garden,\u201d Livingston stunned spectators at local YMCA<\/a>-league games as a soon-to-be basketball wunderkind in kindergarten at Concordia Lutheran School<\/a> in Peoria.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe had the maddest skills for a 5 year old I have ever seen,\u201d said Kirk Wessler<\/a>, executive sports editor and columnist at the Peoria Journal Star<\/a> whose son attended grade school with Livingston.\u00a0 \u201cHe was this tall, skinny kid who just towered over everybody else.\u201d<\/p>\n

Then while learning to multiply and divide in his third grade classroom, Livingston earned the undivided attention of the basketball community on the court, according to Wessler.<\/p>\n

\u201cCollege coaches would see him play and say, \u2018Who is that kid?\u2019\u201d he said.\u00a0 \u201cHe\u2019s just mindlessly spinning and dribbling up and down the court between his legs at full speed, and he\u2019s 8?\u00a0 It was a sight to behold, and people became very aware of this phenom that was coming along.\u201d<\/p>\n

Named Mr. Basketball of Illinois<\/a> in 2004 after leading Peoria Central High School to two consecutive state titles, Livingston denied Duke<\/a> for the NBA draft and became the highest selected high school guard in history as the fourth pick.<\/p>\n

Though the spotlight from high school dimmed and his salaries dwindled after his injury, Livingston continually gives back to the community that raised him.<\/p>\n

While NBA players enjoyed the All-Star break<\/a> in February, Livingston hosted a charity event in his hometown called \u201cAn Evening with Shaun Livingston” to raise money for his foundation<\/a> and Peoria Area Elite Basketball<\/a>, for which he sponsors several youth basketball programs.<\/p>\n

“This is always going to be where I’m from,” he said at the event, according to a Peoria Journal Star article<\/a>. “No matter what team I play for, what city in the world I’m living in, I’m always from Peoria, and I’m always representing my city.\u201d<\/p>\n

Livingston also said he hopes to someday found an academy in Peoria for academic and athletic achievement.<\/p>\n

He tries to inspire and set a good example for young people, and he’s done so in Peoria by helping the youth his hometown.\u00a0 He hosted the Pride of Peoria Basketball Clinic<\/a> in August 2013 for those unable to afford admittance into such programs elsewhere.\u00a0 In the clinic’s first year, 300 children participated free of charge.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

(Photo courtesy of Fred Zwicky of the Peoria Journal Star).<\/p><\/div>\n

\"Screen<\/a><\/p>\n

In addition to Peoria, Livingston has aided the tornado-devastated town of Washington<\/a>.\u00a0 Just before Christmas, he flew home to spread some holiday cheer with a family that lost its home in the storm.\u00a0 He provided the affected mother and her three children with gift cards, Nike<\/a> shoes, NBA gear and autographed pictures.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was just a great chance to spend Christmastime together and let them know somebody cares about them in the tough times they were going through,\u201d Livingston told ESPN New York in December<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Shaun Livingston visits a family affected by the tornado in Washington (Photo courtesy of ESPN New York).<\/p><\/div>\n

Livingston\u2019s generosity is visible both on and off the court, according to Wessler.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s very giving,\u201d he said.\u00a0 \u201cIf you watch him play, he loves to distribute the ball and get his teammates involved.\u00a0 That\u2019s been a trait of his forever, and that carries over off the court as well.\u201d<\/p>\n

Recently, Livingston has been extremely giving on the court, helping his Brooklyn Nets to the best record in the Eastern Conference since January<\/a>.\u00a0 Since he entered the starting lineup Jan. 2, the team has transformed from a pretender with a 10-21 record through Dec. 31 to a contender that has clinched a playoff spot.<\/p>\n

A full-time starter for the Nets, Livingston has reached career highs<\/a> for minutes played and points scored in a season.\u00a0 His perseverance through a debilitating injury, some substantial salary cuts and a seemingly endless search for an NBA home is finally paying off.<\/p>\n

He found Brooklyn.\u00a0 But Peoria founded him.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

(Photo courtesy of ESPN New York)<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Kelly O\u2019Brien If you listened closely to the public address announcer at Madison Square Garden Wednesday night as he read the starting lineup for the visiting Brooklyn Nets, you probably heard something familiar\u2014something that sounds like home. \u201cFrom Peoria Central High School\u2026Shaun Livingston.\u201d In 2007 Livingston feared his name would never resonate through the rafters of an NBA arena again as he lay in a hospital bed with a career-threatening knee injury.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":31,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[50,119,129,120,37,126,60,117,122,123,127,118,128,43,124,125,121,116],"class_list":["post-428","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-general","tag-car","tag-basketball","tag-brooklyn","tag-brooklyn-nets","tag-com-425","tag-concordia-lutheran-school","tag-illinois","tag-kirk-wessler","tag-knee-injury","tag-los-angeles-clippers","tag-madison-square-garden","tag-nba","tag-new-york","tag-peoria","tag-peoria-central-high-school","tag-peoria-high-school","tag-salaries","tag-shaun-livingston"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/com.bradley.edu\/newslab\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/428","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/com.bradley.edu\/newslab\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/com.bradley.edu\/newslab\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/com.bradley.edu\/newslab\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/31"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/com.bradley.edu\/newslab\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=428"}],"version-history":[{"count":17,"href":"http:\/\/com.bradley.edu\/newslab\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/428\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":523,"href":"http:\/\/com.bradley.edu\/newslab\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/428\/revisions\/523"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/com.bradley.edu\/newslab\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=428"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/com.bradley.edu\/newslab\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=428"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/com.bradley.edu\/newslab\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=428"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}