On The Sidelines 10.08.08: Livingston's Second Chance
Posted by Porfirio Diaz on 10.08.2008
Shaun Livingston suffered through a devastating knee injury last year but by signing with the Miami Heat, he’ll be getting a second chance to return to the court. Is Livingston still the promising basketball player that he was prior to his injury or is the injury just too destructive to overcome? Plus thoughts on the proposal to extend instant replay and more NBA fun!
Inside The Lines
Livingston signs with Heat The Miami Heat have announced that they have signed free agent guard Shaun Livingston on a two-year deal. This will be Shaun Livingston's first NBA season back from that gruesome knee injury that nearly ended his career more than 19 months ago. "Shaun Livingston was one of the best young players to come into the draft in a long, long time. We feel very fortunate to be able to sign him and help us rebuild our program," said Heat President Pat Riley
I'll level with you. I have yet to see the video of Livingston's injury (though I did see photo of his knee…ick) and I do not intend to watch it anytime soon. I hate watching that kind of stuff. I barely made it through watching Joe Theismann's injury without looking the other way.
So now the former #4 overall pick in 2004 will have his second chance to come back from that horrific incident and will play for the Heat. Now before Heatfan gets all excited about this possible "steal", keep these things in mind:
- He has not played a professional basketball game since his injury on February 26, 2007.
- That simple "layup" tore almost every part of his left knee, including tearing his ACL, PCL, MCL, patella, tibia-femoral joint, and lateral meniscus.
- Jay Williams had a similar experience in that he severed his leg in a motorcycle accident and tried to come back to the NBA after rehabilitating for 3 years. The comeback didn't go as well as he had hoped, being waived by the Nets and Austin Toros of the NBA Development League in 2006.
- There's already three other guards, Chris Quinn, Mario Chalmers, and Marcus Banks, vying for the starting spot. There's a chance he may not even play at all.
- Will his knee even hold up for 82 games?
Livingston has a lot going against him. That said, this is still a solid move by the Heat. There's little risk in having an investment on Livingston. I don't know the salary of the contract but I imagine it's not very much. In case he flames out, the Heat won't need to worry about the cap room department. But if he is a success there, then Heat have another player they can depend on for short bursts. He's not going to make that much of a difference in the Heat's goal to compete for a championship, but if everything goes well, he could be a key part of the team's rotation. Let's face it, the reason the Heat picked Livingston up is based on potential and for the price they got him. He didn't do anything that special with the Clippers prior to the injury but because of the potential he still holds, he could end up being a solid player. Not a starter at this point of his career, but he'll contribute in other ways.
Of course, Livingston would need to make the roster since it's no guarantee he'll make it. Players don't usually come back from these kinds of career ending injuries, so he'll have to work extra hard just to make the team. Either way, the fact that he's going to try entering the league of professional basketball again after such an injury shows brass. Hopefully he can be an inspiration to other athletes that underwent situation moments like the one Livingston had and turn it around into a positive.
Even Livingston hasn't seen the video yet, so I don't feel too bad
More Instant Replay? NBA teams were asked Friday to vote on two new proposals that, if passed, will noticeably expand the use of instant replay starting this season. In a league memorandum obtained by ESPN.com, votes are sought electronically by 5 p.m. on Oct. 10 on the following proposed changes: 1. To allow game officials to use instant replay at any point during a game to determine (i) whether a successful field goal was correctly scored as a 2-point or 3-point field goal and (ii) whether, for purposes of awarding the correct number of free throws, an unsuccessful field goal attempt on which the shooter was fouled was a 2-point or 3-point attempt. 2. To allow the game officials to use instant replay when the game clock malfunctions during a play concluding with no time remaining on the clock (0:00) at the end of any quarter or overtime period. (Source: ESPN.com)
Hey, maybe coaches can throw red flags onto the court whenever they want to challenge a call like they do for the NFL.
Hmm…better give them an unlimited supply of flags then.
I'm not sure about this. With all the controversy that happened in the playoffs, it's good that they're at least putting forward a place to review any questionable calls and moments during the game. Just imagine: no more non calls, no more dubious moments, and no more flopping! Poor Ginobli might be out of a job soon. Believe me, I'm all for getting calls right. NBA referees are too inconsistent with their calls and maybe this plan will limit the errors that officials make during the game.
Yet, the game is already 8 hours long. Do fans really need another 4 hours added to games because of instant replay delays? Because that's exactly what the frantic pace of the NBA needs…more delays! As advanced and great the NFL's replay system is, it still has it flaws and just ends up having more people being mad at each other. The NBA already has that, so why make it worse?
Who knows? Maybe I'm wrong. Maybe this rule won't actually affect the length of the game and will in many ways clean up the malfunctions and referee mistakes. I need to see this proposal in action, if passed, and hopefully do more positive for the league than negative. For the league's and fan's sake, I currently hope so.
I'm thinking this could have used instant replay
NBA Quickies
- Since when did eye poke injuries become the new "ankle sprains"? Noah will miss five days after being poked in the left eye, leaving him with blood in the front chamber of his eye. Amare Stoudemire got poked in the eye during practice and left with a partially torn iris (it's around the pupil of the eye). He'll be out for 5 to 10 days. He say he might wear goggles for the rest of his career to avoid this injury again. Anything to bring back those awesome Horace Grant goggles.
- Brown loves Gerald Wallace and why wouldn't he? He plays hard defensively, is very athletic, and is one of the most underrated players in the league. His shot needs work though, like as in a lot of work. Nevertheless, I see a lot of good things from G-Wall this year.
- Oden rolls right ankle. Fans collective curse Sam Bowie. Oden says he's fine. Fans collective let out sigh of relief. Then curse Sam Bowie again.
- Tyson Chandler also rolls ankle during the Hornet's preseason opener but is said to be fine. Fans curse Sam Bowie just for the sake of cursing Sam Bowie.
- Who would waste their time stalking Luke Walton? Apparently Stacy Elizabeth Beshear would. She was arrested September 18th after she pulled up to Walton's car and pretended to fire gunshots at him with her hand. So we have two people who pretend to shoot but don't hit anything? Sounds like a great match!
- In Knicks news, forward Jared Jeffries fractured his left fibula at practice and will miss six to eight. Center Eddy Curry practiced for the first time on Monday. He was out last week because of a bacterial infection. Also, Knicks are already declared out of playoff contention, maybe the previously two stories obsolete.
Free Agency 2008
This section is going to be a brief look into some of the moves during free agency.
- Grant Hill exercises option with Suns for 2008-2009 season
- Gilbert Arenas opts out of contract with Wizards
- Elton Brand opts out of contract with Clippers, leaves $16.4 million in last year of his deal
- Baron Davis opts out of contract with Warriors, leaves $17.8 million in last year of his deal
- Corey Maggette ops out of contract with Clippers
- Ron Artest declines to opt out of his contract, remains with the Kings
- Jamison, Wizards sign 4 year, $50 million extension
- Kings hold on to Beno Udrich, signs for 5 year, $33.3 million deal
- Baron Davis signs with Clippers, estimated deal worth 5 year, $65 million
- DeSagana Diop gives verbal commitment to sign new contract for Mavericks
- Chris Duhon signs with the Knicks on a two year worth over $11 million contact
- Former slam duck champion Gerald Green signs one year, minimum salary contract with Mavericks
- Chris Paul agrees on four year, $68 million deal extension with Hornets
- Mickael Pietrus reaches a verbal agreement with the Magic, contract details unknown
- Sixers send forward Rodney Carney, Calvin Booth, and a future first-round pick to the Timberwolves for a second round pick.
- Elton Brand accepts a five-year, $79.795 million deal from the Sixers
- Corey Maggette accepts a five year deal, worth around $50 million.
- Pacers and Raptors officially complete trade, sending Jermaine O'Neal and the rights to Nathan Jawai to Toronto while Indiana obtains T.J. Ford, Rasho Nesterovic, Maceo Baston, and the rights to Roy Hibbert
- James Jones signs five-year deal worth more than $23.2 million
- Celtics sign Patrick O'Bryant for a one-year deal
- Marc Gasol signs three year, $9.72 million deal with the Grizzlies
- Los Angeles Clippers renounce their rights to free agents Shaun Livingston, Dan Dickau, Boniface Ndong, Smush Parker, and James Singleton
- Raptors re-sign Jose Calderon to five-year, approximate $45 million contract
- Brent Barry signs 2 year contract with the Houston Rockets
- Roger Mason sign a two-year deal, worth less than $8 million with the Spurs
- Bucks signs Andrew Bogut to five-year, $60 million extension
- Gilbert Arenas signs six year, $111 million contract with the Wizards
- The Clippers agreed to terms on a deal with the Denver Nuggets to acquire center Marcus Camby for only a second round pick
- Magic signs Anthony Johnson, contract details unknown
- Warriors signs Anthony Randolph
- Nets sign Eduardo Najera
- Cavs sign Daniel Gibson to five-year extension, financial terms were not disclosed
- Celtics sign Patrick O'Bryant
- Bucks signs Tyronn Lue and Malik Allen
- L.A. Clippers sign Kelenna Azubuike to offer sheet, a three-year $9 million deal
- Warriors signs Ronny Turiaf
- Knicks sign Anthony Roberson for two years, worth more than $1.6 million
- James Posey leaves Celtics, signs 4-year $25 million deal with the Hornets
- Deron Williams signs 4-year, $70 million extension with the Jazz
- Eddie House and Tony Allen agree to remain with the Celtics, reportedly a 2 year deal worth over $2 million
- Nets acquired Keyon Dooling from the Magic in exchange for cash and the trade exception the Nets got in the deal that send Jason Kidd to the Mavs
- Spurs re-sign Kurt Thomas, contract details unknown
- Nets trade Marcus Williams to the Warriors for a conditional first round pick
- Jazz acquires Brevin Knight from the Clippers for Jason Hart
- Golden re-signs Monta Ellis to a 6-year, $67 million contract
- Sebastian Telfair signs a new 2-year contract with the Timberwolves
- Chris Andersen, who was reinstated by the NBA early March, signed with the Nuggets, contract details unknown
- Warriors match Clippers' 3-year, $9 million offer sheet to Kelenna Azubuike
- Josh Childress leaves NBA to sign a 3-year contract with Olympiakos of Greece
- Sasha Vujacic agrees to Lakers' 3-year, $15 million contract
- Maurice Evans agree to terms with the Hawks on a 3-year deal, worth about $7.5 million
- Emeka Okafor and the Bobcat reached a 6-year, $72 million deal
- According to sources, Deng and the Bulls are on verge of a six-year, $71M deal
- Kings agree to trade Ron Artest to Rockets in exchange for Houston's first-round draft pick in 2009, Bobby Jackson and the draft rights to Donte Greene.
- Kwame Brown signs 2-year, $8 million contract with Pistons
- Nuggets acquired Renaldo Balkman from the Knicks for Taurean Green, Bobby Jones and a second-round draft pick in 2010.
- Louis Williams re-signs with Sixers reportedly worth than $25 million over 5 years.
- Carlos Arroyo leaves NBA, signs with Israeli giants Maccabi Tel-Aviv over an estimated 3-year contract worth $2.5 million net next season (roughly the equivalent of a $5 million NBA salary after taxes)
- Earl Boykins signs a one-year deal worth more than $3.5 million to play with Virtus Bologna of the Italian league, which makes him Italy's highest-paid player.
- Jason Williams agrees to Clippers offer, reportedly receiving a 1-year contract. Financial terms of contract are unknown.
- Hornets re-sign Ryan Bowen, terms to deal unknown
- Pistons re-sign Walter Herrmann, contract details unknown
- Sixers and Andre Iguodala agree to 6-year, $80 million contract
- Hawks sign Ronald "Flip" Murray, terms of deal are unknown
- Three way trade: Cavs receive Mo Williams, Bucks receive Damon Jones, Luke Ridnour and Adrian Griffin, and Oklahoma City receive Joe Smith and Desmond Mason
- Jannero Pargo signed with Russian club Dynamo Moscow on 1 year, $3.5 million deal (after taxes)
- Clippers re-sign unrestricted free-agent Paul Davis, contract details unknown
- 38-year-old Shawn Kemp signs with Italian team Premiata Montegranaro
- Gordan Giricek signs with Turkey's club, Fenerbahce on a two year contract
- Oklahoma City waive Donyell Marshall
- Theo Ratliff signs with Sixers, terms of deal were not disclosed
- Heat and Dorell Wright agree on a two-year deal
- Devean George and the Mavs agree on a two-year contract, worth about $4 million
- Hornets sign Devin Brown
- Spurs officially sign Michael Finley to a two-year, $5 million contract
- Boston sign forward Darius Miles, who missed the last two NBA season due to microfracture surgery on his right knee.
- Nuggets re-sign J.R. Smith on three-year, $16.5 million
- Suns trade D.J. Strawberry to the Rockets for rookie Sean Singletary
- Hornets sign Sean Marks
- Grizzlies sign Hamed Haddadi, star center for the Iranian national team in the Olympics
- Rockets trade Patrick Ewing Jr. to the Knicks for the draft rights to center Frederic Weis
- Heat sign Jamal Magloire, reported for veteran's minimum
- Lorenzen Wright signs with Cavaliers
- Heat re-sign Chris Quinn
- Cavs re-sign Delonte West to three-year, 12.6 million deal
- Juan Dixon and the Wizards agree to terms
- Rockets match Bobcat's three year, $9 million offer sheet to retain Carl Landry
- Allan Houston signs with Knicks
- Sam Cassell re-joins Boston Celtics for his 16th season after deciding against retirement
- Damon Jones and Bucks part ways
- Raptors sign Jamal Sampson
- Kings sign Francisco Garcia to five year, $29.8 million extension and names recently retired Shareef Abdur-Rahim as assistant coach
- Denver signs Mateen Cleaves, Smush Parker, and Ruben Patterson
- Chicago re-signs Ben Gordon to a qualifying offer
- Denver signs Juwan Howard
- Magic picks up their $2.8 million option on J.J. Redick for next season
Out of Bounds
- Cubs and Angels losing in the first round, after having the best record for their respective leagues, just further proves how useless regular season baseball is. It's not like I'm bitter or anything, considering the Giants didn't make the playoffs and the Dodgers are one series away from a World Series appearance…nope, not at all.
- Do you really want to see the guy that sissy punched and beat Kimbo Slice? I mean really?
Actual names of Buffalo coaches this season: Dick, Perry, Turk, Bobby, Alex and Tyke. Somebody get a fake all-male porn movie poster ready! Come on! Do it for me! Call the movie, "Lotion in the Basket" or "Extra-Hot Buffalo Sauce" and stick that thing online. I don't ask for much.
A friend of mine (we call him Purple, which you can also visit his website here) immediately took the challenge and got to work. This was his tremendous creation.
He has already set it to Bill Simmons and hopefully he'll put it up on his next column.
But let's set the record straight, I posted it up first so I get credit for any recognition this photo may receive. Hehehe…
Final Seconds
Usually I don't get too excited in preseason (as in not at all), but with the Kings playing against the Blazers and the game being Oden's first professional basketball game ever, it might be worthwhile to watch a few minutes.
