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NBA: 30 best careers from players who skipped college

By Josh Cornelissen

LeBron James, Miami Heat and Kobe Bryant, Los Angeles Lakers. Photo by Victor Decolongon/Getty Images
LeBron James, Miami Heat and Kobe Bryant, Los Angeles Lakers. Photo by Victor Decolongon/Getty Images /
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Shaun Livingston
Shaun Livingston, Photo by Matthew Stockman/Getty Images /

30 best careers from players who skipped college – 19. Shaun Livingston

The tale of Shaun Livingston is told in two parts. The first is of the young, athletic phenom from Peoria, Illinois. He was a high school superstar, winning two state titles and ranking top-two in his graduating class. Of the top six prospects in that class, only Rudy Gay (5th) played college basketball. Dwight Howard (1st), Josh Smith (3rd), Al Jefferson (4th) and Sebastian Telfair joined Livingston in declaring for the 2004 NBA Draft.

The LA Clippers took Livingston fourth overall in the draft, pairing him with former Duke players Elton Brand and Corey Maggette, a bit of narrative irony as Duke was the team Livingston spurned in leaving for the NBA. While not a dazzling scorer early on, he averaged five assists per game as a rookie. Livingston was a good facilitator, solid athlete, smart defender and was on the rise as he entered his early twenties.

That trajectory was shattered when he suffered a devastating knee injury in February of 2007; Livingston tore nearly every ligament in his knee. Doctors initially thought his leg might be amputated. Thankfully, they saved his knee, and his career. After a year-and-a-half of rehab, he was ready to play basketball again.

That didn’t mean that teams were ready to give him that chance. He still had a lot of recovery in learning how to be a good NBA player without some of the athletic tools formerly available to him. As strength in his knee grew, and his game shifted, Livingston found a role as a low usage guard who made nearly every lineup he played in better.

Beloved by teammates and opponents alike, Livingston had a solid year with the Brooklyn nets that he parlayed into a new free agent contract with the Golden State Warriors. He would finish out his career with the Warriors, serving a key role on three championship teams. He also served to balance out a roster whose core was almost entirely multi-year college players; not a single other prep-to-pro played with the Warriors for their five-year run to the NBA Finals.

At his retirement, Livingston had totaled 833 games over 14 years, both well above average for an NBA player. He found a home with a Golden State fanbase that cherished him for his role on their dynastic teams with his signature midrange jumper and solid defense. From near amputation to three-time champion is quite the redemptive narrative arc.