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Is there a moment that this all makes you think of? When all the benefits of maintaining this mindset came together? Shane Battier: The seminal moment of my career was Game 7 in the 2013 NBA Finals. In that playoff run, I had the worst shooting stint of my entire career. At one point, I think I was 4 for 28 from the 3-point line, and I felt terrible. I felt like I was letting the team down. We were trying to win a back-to-back championship with the Miami Heat. My playing time was being reduced every game because I just couldn’t make a shot. And so I felt bad. In Game 7, no one’s expecting me to go out and make 6 of 8 3-pointers in that game.
I can imagine it was hard trying to find your role again and start new at ESPN before realizing all of that. And I’m sure there are so many other people who see themselves in you and that story, when they’re changing careers or pivoting after realizing something just isn’t “them.” Shane Battier: It wasn’t fun at the time. But looking back, it was a really meaningful experience in my life and I’m happy that I went through it. You know? Not all the things that you go through are going to be fun. Just like in my career. It wasn’t fun getting ready for the season and running wind sprints and running up mountains and suffering the physical pain it takes to get ready for an NBA season. But when you’re there, you’re like, “Oh man, I’m glad I did it. And if I didn’t do it, then I wouldn’t be in the NBA anymore.”
Shane Battier: Final score? 98 to 79. LeBron, for the record—do you remember his stat line? Forty-five minutes, 45 points. Nineteen of 26. Yeah. Nineteen of 26! Ridiculous. Also, by the way, 15 rebounds. Threw in five assists—casually. I mean, it was the greatest game I’ve ever seen anybody play. It’s a hard argument to beat. Given the stakes, the gravity of the situation, the historical implications... We’re going to be arguing Jordan versus LeBron forever. And this game is the reason why that argument is even plausible. I’m always going with LeBron—for a simple reason." Pablo Torre "Is it because you scored eight points that game?" Shane Battier "LeBron did something twice that Jordan, I don’t think, could have done once. He won two NBA titles with Shane Battier as his starting power forward. No way—no way—Jordan could have done that. As great as Jordan was, LeBron dragged me across the finish line. The albatross had never been so heavy. And that... that is my story, and I’m sticking to it."
Shane Battier: We were just very, very poor. I was the only kid in town who had a Black dad and a white mom. So, in an elementary school of 500 kids, I was the only Black kid. I got a pick on picture day—everyone else got a comb. On Martin Luther King Day, I was expected to know everything about Black culture from the dawn of civilization. And I was a foot taller than everybody else. So, I was the kid who always had to carry a birth certificate with him to the Little League game. I was an outcast wherever I went—mixed, tall, and poor. The only place I really felt at home was at recess: playing kickball, dodgeball, basketball, baseball—all the sports. And I realized that when I helped my friends win, I wasn’t the poor kid, the mixed kid, the tall kid. I was just the kid who helped my friends win. I didn’t care about what I did or how I looked. All I cared about was: did we win, and did I help my friends win? So, I was going to do whatever it took—whatever it took to make sure my friends looked good and that we won. I took that lesson from kindergarten. It was born out of desperation. It was born out of just—I want to be loved. I want to be accepted. That’s what put the dog in me—to just be intense and paranoid and all those things."
Shane Battier: So, during this particular locker room meeting, here I am, full of righteousness, coming from Duke—the Coach K way—and I’m the first one to stand up. I say, 'I gotta be honest, the veteran leadership on this team sucks.' Very honest, very direct. And they said, 'Hey, Duke boy, shut the fuck up. Go sit in the corner. Who are you?' And I was just like, 'Oh, man.' I did not read the room. It humbled me. I realized I couldn’t come in guns blazing, because there’s kind of an ethos, a creed—an unspoken locker room path you’ve got to walk to earn credibility. I hadn’t done that yet. So I shut my ass. I went to work. But I didn’t become cynical. I didn’t become jaded. I wouldn’t allow that locker room to change me. So I kept working. And a funny thing happened. The guys who were maybe on the fence, who didn’t know how to act or how to win, started to develop winning attitudes and behaviors. All of a sudden, you kind of feel the locker room begin to shift. We started to believe a little bit.
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Shane Battier: My last year—when I was told without being told that our best chance of winning doesn’t include you, Shane. When Spo started to sit me in the fourth quarter. Nothing was worse to me than that. Sitting in crunch time—that was my identity. That hurt me to my core. That’s when I knew I was done. I was embarrassed. I was embarrassed. I checked out. And I was cynical. So when I retired, I was very cynical. And I was sad—but I was also cynical." Pablo Torre "What does cynicism mean at this point in your trajectory?" Shane Battier "I shut people out. I was probably battling some depression. I didn’t know what depression was. I’d never had this feeling before. But I felt very isolated. I didn’t feel like anyone understood what I was going through. I felt very alone. And I pushed people away. I pushed my wife away. I pushed my kids away. I was just a jerk. I wasn’t doing destructive things—I wasn’t drinking every night—but I was emotionally unavailable. I was hurt. I was pissed off. I had all these emotions I had never associated with basketball. And it was a big mistake to go work for ESPN. I was really bad on TV. You could probably go on Awful Announcing and find some Shane Battier lowlights. I had zero passion for it. Zero."
Shane Battier: Going to ESPN and being terrible at it—that disaster of a year—didn’t help. I’d never been to therapy. But my wife—who I’ve known since seventh grade, married for 22 years—she saw it. She said, 'Look, Shane, I know you like optionality. Here are three options: the number to the Marriott, the number to your attorney, and the number to a life coach psychologist who comes very highly recommended.' I said, 'Heidi, I’m a very smart man. I’m going to choose door three.' And I had to unpack a lot of crap I hadn’t dealt with. I was too driven. I was too busy throwing up, too busy grinding—just blindly pursuing success in basketball. I didn’t give myself time. It wasn’t healthy. I wasn’t stable."
Jorge Sierra: Trae Young passed Wilt Chamberlain in assists last night for No. 85 in NBA history. He also moved ahead of Hedo Turkoglu, Derek Fisher, Shane Battier and CJ Miles for No. 89 in three-pointers.
With the Grizzlies, he identified the opportunity to run an organization that was looking to turn things around and build something successful and sustainable. At the time, the Grizzlies desperately wanted to change the misfortunes of the franchise. Since its inception in 1995, they had a winning percentage of 29.6% (124-418), one of the worst in North American professional sports. Their move from Vancouver to Memphis not only signaled a change of scenery, but also a desire to transform their reputation — and Jerry West was the man to execute on their turnaround. “Well, we were really excited,” Shane Battier said. “You talk about culturally, we had some decent talent but we had no semblance of thoughts, of higher leadership, and it reflected. Won 23 games my rookie year, I lost more games by Christmas than I did in four years at Duke. It was bad. The next year, when Jerry was hired, it was the beginning of hope.”
Shane Battier: Deke, my brother, you are one of my all-time favorite teammates. Your Hall of Fame laugh and smile will never be forgotten. I'll always remember you yelling at the pilots "Get this bird right!!!!" whenever we hit turbulence. You are a legend in every regard. Rest Easy :hearts:
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Daryl Morey stood inside Camden Academy Charter High School’s cafeteria last month, sharing the story about the time he traded Shane Battier. The 76ers’ president of basketball operations’ audience was a group of graduating seniors completing an educational development and leadership program named after the former NBA player. And though moving Battier from the Houston Rockets to the Memphis Grizzlies at the 2011 trade deadline created “some rocky times,” Morey said, the two men shared a “sense of mission that, really, what we want to do is leave our mark on the world.” “You guys are going to leave your mark on the world,” Morey told the students, as Battier’s wife, Heidi, looked on.
They had gathered to celebrate those students becoming the first class at Camden Academy to complete the two-year GUIDE program as part of the Battier Take Charge Foundation. A partnership with Morey and his wife, Ellen, brought it to the school located around the corner from the Sixers’ practice facility, where about 30 juniors and seniors participated during a 2023-24 school year that ended Friday. Those graduates received a $10,000 scholarship from the foundation, along with exposure to college and career opportunities.
“‘Battier’ has given me a family,” said Emani Lopez, one of Ellen’s mentees who plans to pursue photography. “I’ve been able to grow as a person, with not only [my classmates], but also our mentors. I feel like they understand us, and they keep it real with us. They don’t sugarcoat. … “It feels good to know that there are people out there that do want to see you succeed. … They guide us, and they help us to get to that path that we want to get to.”
They were tasked with completing 10 projects, ranging from creating a resumé (“It’s OK to talk good about yourself. It’s OK to be confident,” Lopez said she learned) and sending a networking email. They huddled around a computer together, deciphering the complex FAFSA financial-aid form. And they connected in-person with mentors from a variety of professional fields. “I really want to emphasize that we’re not coming in and teaching these kids or making them great,” said Hays, who also holds a master’s degree in higher education policy and administration from Boston College. “All we’re doing is giving them the platform to shine.”