The second "Magic"! A former genius defender, who was reborn in the Warriors after suffering from a broken leg injury

He has the comprehensiveness of "Magic" Johnson and the stability of "Penny" Hardaway. He was the first talented guard to join the NBA as a high school point guard. He should have made great achievements in the NBA, but due to a terrible injury, he had to put away his pride and "good" to be someone else's substitute. Fortunately, at the end of his career, he followed the Warriors to get three championship rings, which is also a compensation for God. He is Sean Livingston, known as the second "Magic".

On September 11, 1985, Livingston was born in a conflicted family in Peoria, Illinois, USA. Shortly after his birth, his parents divorced due to a breakdown of their relationship. It is said that the most hurtful thing about their parents' divorce was their children, and Livingston was no exception. After Livingston's parents had a long quarrel, neither of them was willing to raise him, and Livingston was eventually sent to the custody office.

In the custody center, Livingston gradually became withdrawn and indifferent. He was unwilling to share his happiness and sorrow with other children, which made him have the idea of ​​suicide. Fortunately, his father discovered it in time and brought him to his side, so that the tragedy did not happen.

Livingston's father was a very responsible man. Although his income was not high, in order to allow Livingston to receive a better education, the man resolutely chose to work three jobs and send Livingston to a private school, hoping that Livingston would make his mark in the future. After coming to a private school, Livingston came into contact with many sports, his favorite of which was basketball. Under his father's careful guidance, Livingston's football skills have improved rapidly. In his high school years, he was already a household name for basketball. In his senior year, Livingston won the title of Illinois Basketball Master with averaging 18.5 points, 6 rebounds and 6 assists, and was even selected as a member of the All-American First Team by Prada Magazine. With a height of over 2 meters, combined with sufficient vision and stable dribbling ability, Livingston quickly became the target of competition among major universities. Among them, Duke University, a famous basketball school, is the most attractive. Coach K even wrote a letter to invite Livingston to join, but under the attraction of fame and fortune, Livingston decisively rejected the invitation from various universities and directly announced his participation in the NBA draft.

Due to the success of Kobe, James and others, the NBA league has more expectations for high school players. Therefore, even though Livingston participated in the draft as a point guard, some NBA teams still flocked to him. In the end, Livingston was selected by the Clippers at the fourth pick in the first round.

In the first season of the Clippers, Livingston played 30 games for the team, and averaged 7.4 points, 3 rebounds and 5 assists per game. Although Livingston did not perform outstandingly in terms of scoring, Livingston played easily in the organizational connection. In the game against the Bucks at the end of the season, Livingston showed his passing talent to the fullest. In the first starting game of his career, Livingston played against the opposite core point guard without any timidity, and gave a career-high 11 assists in the whole game. In the next game against the Jazz, Livingston played the role of the surprise again, scoring a double-double of 15 points and 10 assists in the whole game, helping the team win a key victory.

As Livingston's role in the team became more and more important, the defense he was subject to began to become more stringent, but this did not hit Livingston's confidence. In the first three months of the 2006-07 season, Livingston performed well. In the 54 games he played for the team, Livingston started 31 games and was able to score a comprehensive data average of 9.3 points, 5.1 assists, 3.4 rebounds and 1.1 steals. At this time, Livingston was approaching his template "Magician" Johnson, but unfortunately soon came to Livingston.

On February 27, 2007, the Clippers played against the Bobcats at home. Livingston, who was full of confidence, wanted to continue his hot form, but after only eight minutes of the first quarter, he ushered in the worst injury of his career. It turned out that Livingston failed to stand firmly after a layup landing. The severe pain made Livingston wail unstoppable. When the slow motion replayed Livingston's injury process, fans could actually see the bones leaking from Livingston's knee due to the injury. The degree of tragedy can be imagined.

Livingston's injury can be said to be the most terrifying injury in NBA history. Because the injury process was too cruel, the NBA official actually forced YouTube to delete the video. Of course, many young fans have not seen Livingston's injury, so there is no concept of its shock. But it can be said that even Paul George, when comparing with Livingston, could only say how lucky he was.

When Livingston was injured, he was not idle. In addition to training, he founded his own foundation. The purpose of the foundation is to "improve the environment and save lives". Perhaps after experiencing the pain of childhood, Livingston wanted to help more American teenagers and children through his own way. In the summer of 2008, Livingston, who lost his value, was abandoned by the Clippers. Although Livingston took the last bus of the Heat before the start of the new season, he had become the team's "mascot". Throughout the season, Livingston played only 4 games for the Heat. During the total 41 minutes of playing time, Livingston scored a total of 9 points, 4 assists, 2 rebounds and 2 steals, which was completely abandoned..

In the following seasons, Livingston spent his career in the process of being traded continuously. Whether in the Grizzlies, Wizards, or the Rockets, Livingston did not win the trust of the coaching staff. His fragmented playing time and team treatment as a transparent person made Livingston full of anxiety about his career and life, and even wanted to retire at one time. But it was not until the Warriors that Livingston finally found the joy of playing on the court again.

In July 2014, Livingston and the Warriors reached a three-year, $16 million contract. Although the salary was not high, Livingston felt the Warriors' unique basketball culture. Due to the existence of Curry and Green, the Warriors' passes and cuts were very smooth, which made Livingston, who already had an excellent vision, immediately found the feeling of playing point guard.

And when Curry came out, Livingston led the Warriors' bench gangsters to start another style of play - personal singles mode. Due to his height of 2.01 meters, Livingston has an absolute height advantage when facing any point guard, which gives him enough room to shoot when playing back and forth. Livingston always lives up to his teammates' entrusted and can always score goals at critical moments, winning valuable rest time for Curry. At the end of the season, Livingston successfully won his first championship ring. Although he has become a substitute, no one thinks that Livingston's championship ring is mixed up, because his role in the team is obvious to all. Some fans even listed Livingston as the Warriors' best sixth man, becoming an indispensable key figure in the team's championship. In the 15th to 16th season, the Warriors scored the first record in NBA history with 73 wins and 9 losses. Livingston continued to play the role of his bench bandit, but the weather was not good. In the finals, the Warriors lost to the Cavaliers and did not succeed in defending the title, but the Warriors were not discouraged. Livingston was the one who was most determined to win the championship next year, because he really had no way out.

Sure enough, in the next two seasons, the Warriors relied on everyone's concerted efforts to win two championship trophys, and Livingston also successfully won three championship rings, which also brought a perfect end to Livingston's basketball career.

In fact, in the small ball era, Livingston was not a qualified point guard because Livingston basically had no three-point ability, which made him look out of place in the small ball era. However, when everyone was obsessed with three-pointers, Livingston was able to use the "most impractical" mid-range shooting to help the team open up the situation, which is really difficult to understand. But in any case, Livingston made an indelible contribution to the Warriors' feat of three championships in four years. Although his career "opened high and closed low", in the end, Livingston became the player who could leave the NBA with a smile, which was something that most players could not do.