January 07, 2016
When an amateur photographer spotted Philadelphia 76ers GM and president of basketball operations Sam Hinkie and former player Shane Battier earlier, there were naturally some questions. Was the 14-year veteran, who last played for the Miami Heat in the 2014 NBA Finals, possibly making a comeback to the hardwood?
Nope. While a front office role or some other affiliation could be a possibility in the future, Battier was simply in town visiting. And he won’t be joining fellow old-timer Elton Brand on the court anytime soon.
“Shane’s motive for having him here is not [playing],” Brett Brown said before the Sixers’ game against the Atlanta Hawks on Thursday night. “It’s about reaching out to basketball people and picking their brain and seeing if there may be some connection either now or down the road.”
Battier has a few connections with the Sixers. Perhaps most notably, he was in Houston when Hinkie worked in the front office. A gritty defender who was a role player on offense, Battier might have been the NBA player who best embraced both the traditional and analytical approaches to the game.
Also a former Duke star, Battier could theoretically have some connection to Jerry Colangelo (via Coach K), Brand, and Jahlil Okafor. A key cog on the 2012 and 2013 Miami Heat title teams, Battier was at the Wells Fargo Center before the game against Atlanta.
“Anytime you get somebody who has played that amount of games and handled himself what that professionalism, class, intellect and all of that, you always want to say, ‘What do you think?’” Brown said. “And we learn, that’s how you learn.”
For now, that is all Battier what here for (“just passing through,” he told CSN Philly). How about the future, though?
“What that means down the road, as far as some further relationship, who knows?” Brown said.
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