Shane Battier Named Heat Director of Basketball Development and Analytics

The Miami Heat announced Thursday that they have hired former swingman Shane Battier as the team's new director of basketball development and analytics. 

According to the Heat's official press release, Battier will be tasked with "the development of analytics in evaluating all talent, including college, free agents and current Miami players."

"I am thrilled to be joining the front office of the Miami Heat," Battier said, per the release. "I look forward to working with the Arison family, learning from a Hall of Fame executive in Pat Riley, general manager Andy Elisburg and of course my old coach, Erik Spoelstra. My goal, as is the entire organization's, is to bring another championship back to Miami."

The role is a natural fit for Battier, who was considered one of the NBA's original analytics darlings, as Michael Lewis wrote in a 2009 piece for the New York Times Magazine. 

Battier himself has been a proponent of analytics for years, and he's made appearances at MIT's Sloan Sports Analytics Conference on multiple occasions to discuss how a fresh way of looking at the game aided his longevity. 

"What analytics afforded me is a way to really drill down to a very small level the nuances of the players I had to guard, the best players in the entire world," Battier said during a Sloan appearance. "Trying to guard Kevin Durant, LeBron James, or Carmelo Anthony is difficult enough; you want every advantage that you can get."

In Thursday's press release, Heat president Pat Riley said he believes Battier can help move the team's program forward thanks to his intelligence and experience. 

"He embodies everything that we are looking for in our players and staff," Riley said. "We feel he will help us tremendously with his experience and knowledge of the game. Shane is an out-of-the-box thinker and will bring a fresh expertise that can help us evolve as a franchise."