Underrated

When are the sports reporters of the world going to wake up and take a hard look at Shane Battier? We've been screaming about this kid in Memphis for three and a half seasons now, and nobody in the national media seems to have noticed. In 2001, Pau Gasol was the runaway Rookie of the Year, but who was second in the voting? Pau's teammate, Shane Battier, who, I'd like to point out, was the consensus NCAA player of the year in his senior season on the national championship-winning Duke Blue Devils. I suppose you have to watch three or four Grizzlies games in a row to realize just how good this guy is, and nobody outside of Memphis actually does that. So I'll summarize.

Battier is a 6'8" small forward, not the most athletic guy, (though he swears he won a slam-dunk contest in high school), but a guy who knows his limits, and who knows the game. And by "knows the game," I mean that this kid has started an NBA game at all five positions in less than three years, and with no more than a day's warning. What's more, he's a guaranteed winner. I've never seen a professional baller hit the ground more that Battier. If the ball is loose and he's within ten feet of it, it's his ball; that's just the way he thinks. Battier really comes into his own in the closing minutes of tight, hard-fought games, when guys start to dog it, and fatigue becomes tangible. He subconsciously ups the ante, and suddenly, he's got that crucial offensive rebound, he's stolen that crucial pass, he's made that crucial, impossible basket. He's the definition of a game-breaker, the guy who comes out of nowhere to seal a victory with a single play. I've seen him do it again and again and again. So why does his name keep coming up in trade rumors?

Because the people who write up trade rumors don't know anything about his game. They only look at the numbers, and Battier's stats are underwhelming. Fortunately, Grizzlies president of basketball operations Jerry West knows a thing or two about clutch, because he, too was that guy. Granted, he was also a superstar, one of the greatest players ever. But he sees every minute of every game, and he knows he can't trade Shane Battier for anything less than a future Hall of Famer.

And something else about Battier: he's a media darling. He never, ever turns away an interview, and he will give anyone, press badge or not, some of the most candid, lucid insight you will get out of an NBA player. I remember seeing a Cribs-style look at his home on a local news program midway through his first season here, and despite his maximum rookie contract, he eagerly showed the cameras around his tiny, cheaply furnished downtown apartment. He took more than adequate time to show off his small DVD collection, which included such masterpieces as Spaceballs and Austin Powers.

I've been an NBA fan since I was old enough to sink a basket on our nine-foot backyard hoop, and Shane Battier is by far my favorite player. It may be my inherent desire to root for the underdog, the unheralded player. If so, I don't think I'll change my mind even when the world wakes up and realizes what an all-star really is.