Livingston’s injury is as bad as it gets

Confirming their worst fears, the Clippers on Tuesday learned that point guard Shaun Livingston might miss the entire 2007-08 season after suffering potentially career-ending knee damage.

An MRI exam revealed that Livingston tore three of the four key ligaments in his left knee -- anterior cruciate, posterior cruciate and medial collateral -- tore cartilage in the knee and dislocated it when he landed awkwardly after missing a layup on a fastbreak in Monday’s victory over the Charlotte Bobcats at Staples Center.

“You’re talking about a member of your family, and everyone in your family is affected when something like this happens,” Coach Mike Dunleavy said. “Obviously, Shaun is a key member of our team, but that’s not your main concern right now. You’re thinking about his health.”

Livingston, 21, who also suffered a serious injury to his right knee in his rookie season, is expected to have surgery on his left knee in two weeks after the swelling around the damaged area decreases. But many things remained undecided Tuesday because of the severity of the injury, which is uncommon in basketball, team physician Tony Daly said.

The Clippers had not determined who would perform the procedure, whether it would be completed in one step or in stages. Daly planned to consult with colleagues from across the nation before making his recommendation to Livingston.

“Do we pick one ligament, two ligaments, three ligaments all at once? Or do we stagger it? That’s where we are right now,” Daly said. “My nature is to be conservative, and I have seen people who have had this done by other people and it hasn’t worked out.

“That’s why we’re going to get a bunch of opinions. I’ll present it to Shaun and his family, his agent if he wants, and we’ll pick the right way to go.”

Acknowledging Livingston “might miss all of next year,” Daly said he was optimistic that the third-year player’s career would continue because “he has worked hard after the other injuries that he’s had and he’s only 21.”

Livingston’s knee injury is the most severe Daly has encountered in his career in athletics.

“I’ve been doing the Clippers for 24 years, and a lot of other people before them, and I’ve never seen it in basketball,” Daly said.

“It’s more commonly associated with football ... where people actually bang into each other.”

Former University of Miami running back Willis McGahee injured three of his four knee ligaments in the 2003 Fiesta Bowl, underwent major surgery and was sidelined for 19 months. Drafted by the Buffalo Bills, McGahee sat out his rookie season and has since rushed for 3,365 yards and 24 touchdowns.

Livingston’s injury occurred Monday late in the first quarter of the Clippers’ 100-93 win.

Cuttino Mobley stole the ball from Bobcats guard Derek Anderson and tipped it ahead to Livingston, who raced to the basket with a defender in pursuit.

Livingston rushed the shot and was off-balance when he landed. Team physician Steven Shimoyama, Daly’s associate, trainer Jasen Powell and paramedics quickly attended to Livingston.

X-rays taken at Staples Center were negative. Livingston was transported by ambulance to Centinela Freeman Regional Medical Center in Inglewood, where he underwent further tests and was released late Monday night.

“I watched the video a lot, and it was a freak accident, that’s for sure,” Daly said. “How he could generate such force to do that to the knee and the kneecap.... We haven’t seen a lot of these.

“No one has done a hundred or so of these [surgeries]. We’re going to pick the people whose opinions I trust and then we’ll come to some consensus.”

Livingston came under considerable criticism this season for his play as the Clippers struggled to stay at .500, although statistically he was having his best season, averaging 9.3 points and 5.1 assists in 54 games. He is guaranteed $4.4 million next season.

The Clippers (27-29) are one of the biggest disappointments in the NBA this season and Livingston’s injury could derail the team’s bid to qualify for the playoffs.

The team plans to sign either a free-agent point guard or one from the developmental league. Whoever replaces Livingston on the roster must be signed by Thursday to participate in postseason play.

Once he has surgery, Livingston faces more rehabilitation than he experienced after dislocating his right kneecap and missing 39 games in the 2004-05 season. He also sat out 13 games that season because of torn cartilage in his right shoulder, and missed training camp and 21 games last season because of a stress reaction in his lower back.

“He needs to get stability in the knee, get strength in the knee and he has to be able to cut on it,” Daly said. “Some of the most minor injuries in basketball have been career threatening and ending, but he’s 21 and he’s very motivated.

“He dislocated his other kneecap and shoulder and came back from those. We’re hoping everything goes real well.”

His teammates are too.

“He’s doing about as well as he could be doing with everything,” forward Elton Brand said. “Obviously, it’s very hard on him and all of us, but you just hope for the best for him.”

*

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX)

The biggest hurt

--

Injuries have sidelined the Clippers’ Shaun Livingston in each of his three seasons. He will have missed 99 of 246 regular-season games:

* 2006-07: Will miss final 26 games of season, and could miss more than a year after tearing the anterior cruciate ligament, posterior cruciate ligament, medial collateral ligament and lateral meniscus in his left knee, and dislocating the patella and tibia-femoral.

* 2005-06: Missed first 21 games with a lower back stress reaction (Nov. 2-Dec. 13).

* 2004-05: Missed 52 games, 39 with a dislocated right patella (Nov. 23-Feb. 11) and 12 with torn cartilage in right shoulder (Feb. 23-March 18).

Source: American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons. Graphics reporting