Shaun Livingston played with undiagnosed broken toe in last year's playoffs

After signing a three-year, $16.6-million deal in the offseason, Shaun Livingston missed all of Warriors training camp recovering from toe surgery.

Since returning, he's struggled - perhaps predictably - to find his footing. Through eight games, he's averaging just 2.5 points, shooting 40 percent from the field, and turning the ball over 1.5 times in 13.5 minutes. He's carrying a sub-replacement level 5.5 PER, and hasn't looked anything like the player that thrived with the Brooklyn Nets last season.

This isn't necessarily surprising. Working one's way back from a broken toe, especially without having played at all during training camp or preseason, would be a challenge. But it's possible Livingston faced an even tougher road back after apparently playing through the broken toe during last year's playoffs.

"I don’t want to say I was misdiagnosed, but they couldn’t really figure out the issue," Livingston told the New York Daily News' Stefan Bondy, in reference to the Nets medical staff. "They did all these MRIs and X-rays and it was still hurt."

Livingston broke his toe in the 77th game of last season and sat out the final five regular-season games, but he subsequently played 12 games and 325 minutes in the playoffs. The toe reportedly healed after it was placed in a cast, but he still required the surgery after signing with Golden State.

"They found out there was a lot of scar tissue because once I broke it, I continued to play on it in the playoffs," Livingston said. "Basically, I just shot it up with cortisone and went out there and played on it."

- with h/t to Nets Daily