Paul Pierce grabbed a rebound less than three minutes into the Nets’ preseason game Tuesday in Washington, took a dribble and fired a pass up to Shaun Livingston at midcourt.
Livingston then took one dribble followed by two long, graceful strides, launched himself from a step inside the foul line and glided past two Wizards defenders to the rim, where he slammed the ball through the hoop with one hand.
It was only a brief moment in the opening preseason game for the Nets, one that was dwarfed by the debuts of Jason Kidd as coach and Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce and Andrei Kirilenko in Nets jerseys. But for Livingston, the dunk was a flashback.
“Maybe a little bit,” he said with a smile following Friday’s practice at the team’s facility ahead of Saturday’s preseason game in Brooklyn against the Pistons. “Back to when I had braids or a ’fro.”
For Livingston, it was a reminder of the kind of athleticism his 6-foot-7 frame used to put on display before the terrible knee injury he suffered in 2007 while playing for the Clippers. Since then, he has bounced around from one team to another — six in all — including spending portions of last season playing first for the Wizards and then the Cavaliers.
“Last year was a little up-and-down for me,” said Livingston, who averaged 6.3 points and 3.3 assists in 66 games between Washington and Cleveland. “Since the injury, it’s been a roller coaster.”
But after spending the last several years going from team-to-team trying to rebuild his body and game, Livingston enters this season with a fully guaranteed contract and what looks like a role perfectly suited to his selfless, pass-first game: the backup point guard job with the Nets, on a team filled with players more than capable of converting his well-placed passes into points.
“Shaun is a guy who, coming into the league, was very athletic, and had a very high basketball IQ,” Kidd said. “And I think the injury just heightened that IQ. He knows how to play the game. … In the Washington game he ran the show, but he’s been doing that all of training camp. He’s stable … you don’t have to worry about turnovers, and he understands how to run a team.”
And after seven years of waiting to return to the playoffs following his lone trip with the Clippers in 2006, the opportunity to be a contributor on a playoff-caliber team again is just icing on the cake.
“The guys have confidence in each other, guys respect each other, and I’m just trying to come in and be a glue guy,” Livingston said. “Get guys shots, run the offense and just play my role.”
But, at the same time, Livingston wouldn’t mind if he has a few more moments like the one Tuesday night this season, a few more flashbacks to what the basketball world saw when the Clippers made him the fourth overall pick in the draft in 2004 as a high school player jumping straight into the league.
“Hopefully there will be days where I feel good like that, and I can be as explosive, because it definitely helps [my] confidence in my game when your body feels good.”
“I’m feeling good. I’m doing everything I can. I’m taking care of my body, getting my treatment, I’m in the weight room. … I’m doing everything I can to stay healthy, and hopefully the genetics kind of take over from there.”
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Jason Terry, who has been limited throughout training camp as he recovers from offseason left-knee surgery, participated in nearly all of Friday’s practice, and said that he hopes to go through a full practice when the Nets retake the practice floor Sunday. However, Terry will not participate in Saturday’s game against Detroit, and said that he is focused on getting back in the lineup for the Nets’ final two preseason games Oct. 23 in Boston and Oct. 25 in Miami.
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Deron Williams remains limited in practice and said he had no update on his timetable for returning to the floor. Because the Nets only practice once — on Sunday — in the next week, it appears the best shot for Williams to play in the preseason — like Terry — will come in those final two preseason games.