| | Date of birth: September 9, 1978
| Birth place: Birmingham, MI
| | Current residence(s): | | Family: Parents: Ed and Sandee, two sisters: Stephanie, 36, and Ashley, 19; and two brothers: Todd, 34, and Jeremy, 23 | | Nickname(s): Batman | | Signature move(s): | | Draft: | Height: 6'8"
| Weight: 220lbs
| | College: Duke University | Years Pro: 7
| Position(s): Forward
| Team(s): Memphis Grizzlies
| | Jersey number(s): 31 | | Product endorsement(s): | | | |  :
Shane Courtney Battier, born on September 9, 1978. Battier born and raised in Birmingham, Michigan attended Derby Middle School before starting his basketball career at Detroit Country Day School in Beverly Hills, Michigan, where he won many awards including 1997 "Mr. Basketball of Michigan" while playing for coach Kurt Keener. On September 11, 2007, Shane returned to Detroit Country Day School as they retired his jersey, number 55. Shane joined Chris Webber as only the second player to have his athletic number retired by Detroit Country Day School.
Battier was an outlier from his childhood; by the time he entered Country Day as a seventh-grader, he was already 6'4"/1.93 m, and was 6'7"/2.01 m a year later. He graduated from Country Day with a 3.96 grade point average and was named the school's outstanding student in his senior year, went on to attend Duke, where he played four years under head coachMike Krzyyzewski. He led the Blue Devils to two Final Fours in 1999 and 2001. The Blue Devils lost to the Connecticut Huskies in the 1999 finals, but came back to win the national championship by defeating the Arizona Wildcats two years later. In 2001, Battier swept the major National Player of the Year awards, and subsequently had his jersey number 31 retired by the Blue Devils. Additionally, Battier was a three-time awardee of the NABC Defensive Player of the Year. Battier graduated from Duke with a major in religion.After the conclusion of his college career, Battier was named to the ACC 50th Anniversary men's basketball team.
Battier was selected by the Vancouver Grizzlies with the sixth pick of the first round of the 2001 NBA Draft. He was the Grizzlies' second draft pick since the team relocated from Vancouver, Canada after six years. Pau Gasol of Spain was selected in the same draft with the number three pick, by the Atlanta Hawks, then traded to the Memphis Grizzlies.
Battier is a versatile player with the size to play inside and the range to score from further out (particularly the corner three-pointer). However, he makes his living as a hustle player on the defensive end, where he defends three positions(shooting guard, power forward, small forward) with a high degree of skill, nets a good number of blocks and steals, dives for loose balls, and frequently draws offensive fouls from his opponent.
Battier has often been called "the ultimate glue guy" for playing sound, fundamental, team-oriented basketball, making his teammates more effective without flash or padding his own stats, and for making the most of his skills with discipline and hustle rather than raw athleticism. He's also known for his extensive preparation in studying the opposing team and the player he is assigned to guard: "I try to prepare for my opponent as thoroughly as possible. I want to know every angle on the man I am guarding to give me an edge. I read many, many pages and go over strengths and weaknesses many times before a game. 'Proper preparation prevents poor performance.' That is a motto I like." The Rockets currently oblige him in that regard by making him the team's only player with access to a huge amount of highly sophisticated statistical data that they compile on all opposing players; he uses this data to familiarize himself with the tendencies of the players he will guard in each game. His team-oriented approach is also illustrated by one game between the Rockets and San Antonio Spurs in the 2007–08 season in which he was assigned to guard Manu Ginobili. Because Ginóbili generally plays off the bench, his minutes are not in sync with those of typical NBA starters. Before the game, Battier went to Rockets coach Rick Adelman and asked to be kept out of the starting lineup and substituted in whenever Ginóbili entered the game. Rockets general manager Daryl Morey later said about the incident that “No one in the NBA does that. No one says put me on the bench so I can guard their best scorer all the time.”
On June 28, 2006, Battier was traded by the Grizzlies to the Houston Rockets in exchange for Stromile Swift and the Rockets' number 8 selection Rudy Gay in the 2006 NBA Draft. He also played for the US national team in the 2006 FIBA World Championship, winning a bronze medal.
Battier's most recent life achievement is earning the title "The Kobe Stopper" as one of the best defenders of Kobe Bryant. His approach to guarding Bryant is based on his own analysis of Bryant's tendencies, combined with the Rockets' statistical analysis. For example, the Rockets have determined that Bryant is noticeably more effective when driving to his right as opposed to his left, shooting immediately off a pass instead of shooting off the dribble, and getting on the baseline or in the paint as opposed to other locations on the court. Battier then seeks to encourage Bryant to operate in zones where he has proven to be statistically less effective; in some games, his defense on Bryant has actually made the Lakers' offense worse from a statistical standpoint than if Bryant were not playing at all.
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 | WHAT ARE YOU FAVORITE QUOTES BY AND ABOUT BATTIER? CLICK EASYEDIT ABOVE TO HIS MOST NOTABLE QUOTABLES HERE!
| | BY BATTIER
| - "In reality, we're trying to win every game. That's the bottom line."
- "Every time somebody asks me about making the playoffs, I say you never take it for granted. We were the worst professional sports franchise in the country when we got here. We didn't have credibility or any momentum. Now, we feel we have credibility in the NBA. We're just searching for more by having success in the playoffs."
- “I've stopped trying to figure this team out. I just think when we are down and out, this team comes together. We gave an unbelievable effort. I don't care if we don't have the most talented team but there's not a team with more heart in this entire league. We've shown it again and again. I'm just really proud of the effort we gave tonight.”
| | | ABOUT BATTIER
| - I call him Lego. When he’s on the court, all the pieces start to fit together. And everything that leads to winning that you can get to through intellect instead of innate ability, Shane excels in. I’ll bet he’s in the hundredth percentile of every category.” - Daryl Morey, Rockets GM
- "...getting to finally play with Shane Battier, I have always wanted to play with him but we never had the chance to play with each other." - Ron Artest, fellow Rockets teammate.
- "This year we have been a Championship team with Shane and a bubble playoff team without him." - Daryl Morey, Rockets GM
- "I’d covered high-school basketball for eight years and talked to hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of kids - really every single prominent high-school basketball player in the country. There’s this public perception that they’re all thugs. But they aren’t. A lot of them are really good guys, and some of them are very, very bright. Kobe’s very bright. LeBron’s very bright. But there’s absolutely never been anything like Shane Battier.” - Dan Wetzel, Basketball Times Writer
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NBA All-Rookie First Team (2002)
