Shane Battier of the Houston Rockets is considered the ideal role player in the NBA. Unselfish to the core, he is the kind of player who makes his club significantly better.

Shane did all the little things in his four years at Duke University under Coach Mike Krzyzewski, where he led the Blue Devils to the Final Four in 1999 and the 2001 National Championship. A three-time national defensive player of the year, Battier was the first player in ACC history - and fourth in college history - to finish with at least 1,500 points, 500 rebounds, 200 blocks, 200 assists and 200 steals. Shane was named College Player of the Year in 2001, he was named to the ACC 50th Anniversary men's basketball team and his jersey has been retired by Duke.

The sixth overall pick of the 2001 NBA Draft by the Memphis Grizzlies, Shane made an immediate impact on the team. His commitment to winning and the way he approached the game helped lead the Grizzlies to the team's first playoffs in only his third season. On the night of the 2006 NBA draft, the Rockets acquired Shane for the eighth pick in the draft.

Wildly popular in China (Rockets games are broadcast on Chinese Central Television), Shane is known for playing smart, fundamentally sound, team-oriented basketball, and is regarded as one of the best defensive players in the NBA. His demonstrated ability to make his teammates better and his opponents worse was recently chronicled in an article entitled "Money (Basket) Ball!" by Michael Lewis, which appeared as the cover story in the February 15, 2009, edition of the New York Times Magazine. http://www.nytimes.com