So long, Shaun Livingston

The Thunder waived backup point guard Shaun Livingston on Tuesday to make way for rookie Eric Maynor, acquired in a trade with the Jazz.

I was pulling for Livingston to make it big with the Thunder. He would have made a great story. The catastrophic knee injury he suffered three years ago while a Clipper seemed destined to end his career. Instead, he fought back, re-habbed and made it back to the NBA, joining the Miami Heat last year for a short spell, then signing with the Thunder. He played eight games for Oklahoma City down the stretch last season, then 10 games this year after coming back from arthroscopic surgery, residue from his original knee surgery.

I was pulling for Livingston, but I’m not surprised he was waived. Livingston never seemed to do anything while on the court. I don’t mean that cruelly. I mean that literally. Livingston made few if any mistakes. Few if any plays. He was just sort of out there.

In the first month of the season, Kevin Ollie emerged as the Thunder’s backup point guard. Ollie turns 37 on Sunday. He’s a journeyman. He played solid as Russell Westbrook’s backup, but I never could figure out why he was playing ahead of Livingston. Now I know. Ollie was better. He actually did stuff. Made shots, made plays, made himself relevant.

Livingston never did. I hope he can somewhere else.