Randy Livingston

Randy Livingston
Born	(1975-04-02) April 2, 1975 New Orleans, Louisiana, U.S.
Occupation(s)	Basketball player, coach
Years active	1996–2008 (player), 2010–present (coach)
Known for	NBA player for multiple teams; NBADL MVP; high school and college coaching

Randy Livingston (born April 2, 1975) is a former American professional basketball athlete and presently a coach. Throughout his career, he participated in parts of eleven NBA seasons representing nine different franchises. Despite being the nation's leading high school player in 1993, Livingston’s collegiate and professional trajectories were notably hindered by injuries that curtailed his playing capabilities.

Early life

Livingston attended Isidore Newman School in New Orleans, where he was a teammate of quarterback Peyton Manning. He earned the distinction of High School co-player of the year twice, sharing the honor in 1992 with Jason Kidd and in 1993 with Rasheed Wallace. His high school accolades include appearances in the McDonald's All-American Game and the Magic's Roundball Classic, where he was ranked as the top player nationally in the 1993 class, ahead of peers Rasheed Wallace and Jerry Stackhouse. In recognition of his impact, Isidore Newman retired his #50 jersey in 2013.

Professional basketball career

Livingston’s college tenure at Louisiana State University was limited to just 32 games across two seasons due to persistent knee problems. Selected by the Houston Rockets as the 42nd overall pick in the second round of the 1996 NBA draft, he later signed with the Atlanta Hawks as a free agent during his sophomore year. His most stable period in the NBA came with the Phoenix Suns in 1999, when he participated in 79 games and posted averages of 4.8 points, 1.6 rebounds, and 2.2 assists per contest. This stint marked his sole back-to-back multi-year tenure with a single NBA team.

Following this phase, Livingston had short engagements with the Golden State Warriors, Seattle SuperSonics, and New Orleans Hornets, alongside periods competing in the CBA. He joined the Los Angeles Clippers during the 2003-04 campaign and subsequently played for the Utah Jazz in the 2004–05 season.

After being drafted by the defunct 2005 AAPBL, Livingston took his talents overseas to Turkey’s Galatasaray before returning stateside to join the NBA Development League’s Idaho Stampede in 2006. That March, he appeared in five games for the Chicago Bulls. In 2007, injuries on the SuperSonics roster led to Livingston re-signing with Seattle for limited playing time.

Within the NBDL, Livingston averaged a double-double with 12.0 points and 10.5 assists per game for Idaho during the 2006–07 season, ranking second overall in assists across the league. He captained Idaho to its inaugural NBA Development League Championship in 2008 prior to retiring from professional play. The Erie BayHawks later selected him in an expansion draft aiming to entice his return.

Following his MVP-caliber performance guiding Idaho to its only D-League crown, Livingston’s jersey was retired at CenturyLink Arena located in Boise, Idaho.

Over an eleven-season NBA career encompassing 203 regular-season games, Livingston holds the record for fewest games played across that timeframe; only Sean Marks has similarly low game totals over an eleven-plus season span.

Post-retirement and coaching career

Between 2010 and 2012, Livingston took on head coaching duties for the Idaho Stampede. He then transitioned to Australia where he worked as both a scout and coaching advisor. In August 2016, he was inducted into the greater New Orleans Sports Hall of Fame and appointed as an assistant coach at Louisiana State University.

In 2018, Livingston returned to coach at his alma mater, Isidore Newman School, leading their seventh and eighth grade boys basketball squad to a middle school city championship. The following year, he replaced Jimmy Tillette as head coach of Newman’s varsity boys basketball team. Among his players was notable recruit Arch Manning, a member of the distinguished Manning football lineage.

Under Livingston’s guidance, Newman captured Louisiana state championships in both 2022—its first since 1993—and again in 2023. However, after a recruitment infraction surfaced in 2023, Livingston received a one-year suspension from coaching by the LHSAA, and Newman was stripped of both state titles. In response, Livingston initiated legal action against the LHSAA. On January 18, 2024, Judge Monique Barial granted a preliminary injunction permitting him to resume coaching duties.

NBA career statistics

Source

Regular season

|- | align="left" | | align="left" | Houston | 64 || 0 || 15.3 || .437 || .409 || .646 || 1.5 || 2.4 || .6 || .2 || 3.9 |- | align="left" | | align="left" | Atlanta | 12 || 0 || 6.8 || .250 || – || .800 || .5 || .4 || .6 || .2 || .8 |- | align="left" | | align="left" | Phoenix | 1 || 0 || 22.0 || .625 || – || 1.000 || 2.0 || 3.0 || 2.0 || .0 || 12.0 |- | align="left" | | align="left" | Phoenix | 79 || 15 || 13.7 || .416 || .345 || .839 || 1.6 || 2.2 || .6 || .2 || 4.8 |- | align="left" | | align="left" | Golden State | 2 || 0 || 3.5 || .000 || .000 || – || .5 || .5 || .0 || .0 || .0 |- | align="left" | | align="left" | Seattle | 13 || 0 || 13.5 || .278 || .125 || .909 || 1.9 || 2.0 || .7 || .2 || 3.2 |- | align="left" | | align="left" | New Orleans | 2 || 0 || 6.0 || .500 || – || 1.000 || .0 || .5 || .0 || .0|| 3.0 |- | align="left" | | align="left" | L.A. Clippers | 4|| 0||12.0|| .200|| .000|| .667||1.8||1.5|| .5|| .0||2.0 |- | align="left" | | align="left" | Utah |17||4||13.4|| .423|| .625|| .882|| .7||2.6|| .7|| .1||3.8 |- | align="left" | | align="left" | Chicago |5||0||4.4|| .000|| –|| –|| .8|| .2|| .2|| .0|| .0 |- | align="left" | | align="left" | Seattle |4||0||6.5|| .000|| –|| –|| .3||1.0|| .0|| .0|| .0 |- class="sortbottom" | style="text-align:center;" colspan="2"| Career |203||19||13.6|| .406|| .351|| .771||1.4||2.0|| .6|| .2||3.8

Playoffs

|- | align="left" | 1997 | align="left" | Houston | 2 || 0 || 7.5 || .250 || 1.000 || – || .0 || 2.0 || .5 || .0 || 1.5 |- | align="left" | 1999 | align="left" | Phoenix | 3 || 0 || 8.0 || .400 || .000 || 1.000 || 2.3 || .7 || .3  |||  .0  ||| 5.3 |- |- | align="left" | 2000 NBA Playoffs |- | align="left" | 1999–2000 Phoenix Suns season |- | 7  ||| 3  |||  9.0  |||  .222  |||  .333  ||| –  |||  1.0  |||  .6  ||| .6  ||| .1  |||     2.0 |- |- | align="left" | 2002 NBA Playoffs |- | align="left" | 2001–02 Seattle SuperSonics season |- |     5     |||     0     |||     16.0     |||     '.412     |||     .333     |||     .10000     |||     1,2     |||     ,20 '    　　||| 　　,4, 　　||| 　　, 　　||| 　　, 　　||| 　　, 　　||| 　　, 　　, 　　||| 　　, 　　, 　　, 　　, 　　, 　　, 　　, 　　, 　　, 　　, 　　, 　　, 　　,     |- class=sortbottom style=text-align:center colspan=2 Career 17 3 10,7 ,317 ,364 ,10000 ,12 ,12 ,05 ,01 ,31

Honors and distinctions

• Champion of the CBA: 2004–05 season
• NBADL titleholder: 2007–08 season
• NBADL Most Valuable Player: 2006–07 season
• Selected for All-NBADL First Team: 2006–07, 2007–08
• Named to All-CBA First Team: 2005
• All-CBA Second Team selections: 1999, 2002, 2004
• Record holder for most assists in a single NBADL game (22)