Shaun Livingston: Soul In The Hole

For the last two years, the NBA has had one PR nightmare after another; and it cant seem to wake up. The infamous brawl in Detroit sparked an entire era of media scrutiny and social criticism about a league which by several accounts was out-of-control and overrun with thugsheaded down the same road as its football predecessor, the NFL.

Follow-up with a reactionary dress-code debacle, a hilarious new-ball scandal, and mix with a racist age-discrimination draft policy and youre just about caught up to speed, just about.

The 2007 season kicked off in a few short weeks amidst a humiliating scandal involving a referee who admittedly bet on games. Whats good about the NBA? one might ask. Well, there is Shaun Livingston.

In 2004 Shaun Livingston was the Los Angeles Clippers 1st round draft pick out of Peoria Central High School in Illinois. The 67 point guard actually passed on a scholarship offer from Coach Krzyzewski at Duke to go straight to the Association. Out west Shaun is described as a young philanthropist who prefers attending charity events over clubs. HipHopDX got the exclusive interview with "Mr. Clipper" himself, (now set to return after a career-threatening knee injury) to get his take on the league, co-existing in L.A. with Kobe, and real life community service.

HipHopDX: Whats it like on the west coast?
Shaun Livingston: Aww man, first off the weather out here is great, and being a part of the Clippers franchise and helping to turn some things around here the last couple years has been good. Im definitely excited to be out here.

DX: Nowadays you hear lots of stories about players who make the transition from high school to the pros. Do you still feel yourself as a young guy or are you starting to feel more acclimated to the league?
SL: I amsome of the guysa lot of the guys in the league look at me as young, and I guess Im still younger than a lot of the rookies coming in but Im going on my fourth year so

DX: Youre known for your maturity.. what kind of social responsibility do public figures, athletes in particular, have?
SL: Well it's tough, you come out so young and you sign a big contract and youre making 100 times what you were making in high school, and youve got responsibilities to be accountable for all of your actions.. A lot of guys dont think about that before they make decisionswere all human at the end of the day, but it's just trying to be smart and make the right decisions.

DX: Tell me about some of the off-court projects youve got going on right now.
SL: Well first weve got the Shaun Livingston Foundation which we started a couple of years ago. Its about just trying to provide opportunities and the chance to interact with myself and others to help kids get out of the strugglewhatever it is: poverty, cancer, you know whatever. So thats been keeping us busy. Im working with my basketball camp, making my hospital runsgoing to charity events. Im also getting into real estate trying to make some quality investments. And Im also interested in the film industryexecutive producing moviesyou know Im in L.A. sothats a good look.

DX: Of courseL.A. Say no more tell me about growing up in Peoria, Illinois. What has the Peoria to L.A. transition been like?
SL: Peoria is 150,000 people tops and L.A. is like eight or nine million so.You just have to stay grounded, I think the people around you are important. You have to keep a good core group of people around you to help keep you grounded. Its easy to get lost out here man especially in an athlete or entertainers situation.

DX: After the injury, what was your outlook on your career?
SL: I knew I had injured myself. I tried to stay positiveand I prayed about it and left it at that. Then I found out the details and it was tough and it was a grind but once I got my thoughts together I just got back on the grind.

DX: I hear a lot of athletes whove been through injuries say that they really benefited from the opportunity to talk to veterans whove overcome similar injures in their careers. Have you had the chance to reach out to anyone like that in the league?
SL: Yeah, I did. I actually talked to Kiki Vandeweghe, whos had some knee and back problems but for me it was tough because I was in a unique situationmy injury is rare when it comes to basketball (a multi-ligament knee injury). Its more-so a football injury, and that rarely even happens in football. I kind of had to deal with it myself and work with the doctors and medical staff. But its coming along well. Im excited about the progress that Ive had already. Its going well.

DX: Whats it like being in the same sports town as the Lakers?
SL: Its a little tough, but its exciting as well. What Magic [Johnson] and those guys instilled in the city, and then Shaq [O'Neal] and Kobe [Bryant] ... you know, this is a traditional Los Angeles Lakers city. People definitely bleed yellow and purple out here. But theres no shortage of Clippers fans either. You have a lot of loyal fans out here that love the Clippers. It's exciting, man, youve got a rivalry out hereespecially since Shaq left. I like it.

DX: Lets talk rap for a sec. Who are you rocking with right now?
SL:My mans is [Lil] Wayne. So many mixtapes and songs come out that just keeping up with him is crazy. Being from the Chi-town area I gotta rock with Kanye [West] but I like 50 [Cent] too. And I like a little R&B every now-and-then too.

DX: Lots of pro athletes have foundations and charities and all that. Where does your passion for helping kids come from?
SL: First off, your background. I wasnt very fortunate, but I had a lot more than other kids I grew up with. We werent rich-we were.you never want to say it but we were borderline poor. So I can relate to kids who go through the struggle. You compare that to kids who grow up in stable households who are financially blessed; and the opportunity is definitely not equal. I just try to reach out and provide hope for them, whether they have cancer or some type of disease like HIV. For me, basketball was my motivation, so Im trying to be that person and inspire others to help and give back as well.

DX: Who did you look up to and whats it like stepping on the court with dudes you may have idolized?
SL: Guys that I watched when I was youngonce you step on the court with guys like Kobe and [Kevin Garnett]. and guys like Allen Iversonit's crazy. When they came in I was like 11 or 12 or whatever. I still had posters and all that.

DX: Whats your take on the new rules prohibiting guys from coming right form high school to the NBA?
SL: It all depends on the individual. Thats how I really feel. Im not saying Im against the rule. College is good for kids. And there are exceptions. I think theyre trying to weed out or differentiate between those two types of players.

DX: Whats the word on when youll be back?
SL: Were taking it a day at a time, were not really pinpointing a date but hopefully Ill be back by January or February to give me a chance to help my team get back to the playoffs.

DX: How can fans get in touch and help support the foundation?
SL: Go to the our website: ShaunLivingston14.com. We just brought in a new executive director so were excited. Check us out.