The Warriors are going through changes, and the latest involves a fan favorite.
Shaun Livingston will not be a part of the Warriors’ front office next season, a source has told NBC Sports Bay Area. The decision was from Livingston, not the team, to focus on family.
Livingston, 37, is moving to Las Vegas permanently and no longer will live in the Bay Area. He and his wife, Joanna, already have a house in Vegas. The two also have two children, ages 4 and 6.
The former No. 4 overall pick in the 2004 NBA Draft spent the final five years of his 14-year playing career with the Warriors, where he reached five straight NBA Finals and was a three-time champion. Livingston decided to join Golden State’s front office after his playing career instead of trying his hand at coaching. Bob Myers, who is stepping down after 11 years as the Warriors’ general manager, played a vital role in Livingston’s second basketball career.
One year after retiring from playing following the 2018-19 season, Livingston joined the Warriors’ front office in September of 2020 as director of players affairs and engagement, holding a strong voice for players young and old.
While the Warriors began lighting the NBA up from a long distance, Livingston used his length as a 6-foot-7 point guard to be the perfect complement off the bench for Steph Curry and Klay Thompson and was a lethal part of Steve Kerr’s offensive system from the mid-range. Livingston in his final five seasons as a Warrior averaged 5.4 points and 2.4 assists per game, shooting 52.6 percent on 2-pointers.
The moment free agency opened in 2014, Livingston and the Warriors agreed to a three-year contract. History repeated itself three years later. Livingston again agreed to a three-year contract to remain a Warrior in the summer of 2017, and the final year, which he never played, was partially guaranteed.
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He recently credited Myers, Kerr and Jerry West as his three main reasons for originally signing with the Warriors. Myers’ contract ends June 30, Kerr is entering the final season of his current contract as the Warriors’ head coach and West hasn’t been part of the franchise since the 2016-17 season.
Zaza Pachulia became a part of the Warriors’ front office in 2019, Livingston came aboard in 2020 and Leandro Barbosa also was hired to Kerr’s coaching staff in 2020, giving the Warriors three former players who won titles for Golden State. Barbosa last season followed Mike Brown to Sacramento as a member of the Kings’ coaching staff, and Pachulia remains a Warriors basketball operations consultant.
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