This news may be a few days old, but I’m only getting to it now because it’s relatively notable for your 2013-14 Brooklyn Nets.
The NBA’s Most Improved Player Award was given out yesterday, and it was given to a certain point guard, just not the one on the Nets you were probably thinking of. Goran Dragic, of the Phoenix Suns, was voted to be the league’s most improved player for this regular season in a poll of writers and reporters covering the NBA, even though his team didn’t make the playoffs in the tough West.
Shaun Livingston, who has been on five teams in the last four seasons and eight overall in his nine NBA years, has seen his career revitalized this season with Brooklyn, in which he has played a career-high 76 games and started a career-high 54. He has played 26 minutes a game for the Nets in which he has put up 8.3 points, 3.2 rebounds, 3.2 assists, and even a career-high 1.2 steals. However, he came in just 12th place in MIP voting behind players like Isaiah Thomas, Markieff Morris, and Patty Mills.
Those numbers may not be extremely impressive, but the impact that Livingston has had on the Nets this season goes far beyond the box score.
His 6-7 length has allowed coach Jason Kidd to employ his effective “long ball” lineup strategy with Livingston at the 2 that has been so confusing for opposing offenses to conquer successfully. After all of the injury problems he’s had in his career, most notably a brutal knee injury (link is a little graphic for an in-game injury, so beware) suffered while he was on the Clippers that derailed him for awhile, it’s awesome to see him playing a crucial role on a playoff team.
He may not have been recognized as one of the NBA’s top improved players, but for the Nets and Jason Kidd, they wouldn’t rather have Livingston any other way.
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