Shane Battier confirmed to Heat coach Erik Spoelstra that he will retire this summer after 12 years in the NBA. Battier made his decision months ago and Miami's march through the Eastern Conference didn't inspire him to make one more run at a championship in 2014-15. He's expected to work as an analyst for ESPN next season, though it wouldn't be surprising to see the cerebral Duke alum coaching an NBA team in the future.

Shane Battier frequently calls out opposing team's plays for the Heat, but he finds it harder to do against Spurs' coach Gregg Popovich because "he has about 500 plays." Battier effectively forecast many of the Pacers' offensive sets in the Eastern Conference finals, leading to a cat-and-mouse game with coach Frank Vogel, but he's been less effective while watching his team fall into a 1-2 hole in the Finals. The veteran forward hasn't done much on the court, either, going scoreless in a combined 16 minutes of action with a DNP-CD in Game 2.

Shane Battier is expected to work for ESPN as a college basketball analyst next season, according to The Big Lead. That would mean Battier is going to retire at age 35, which was expected. He played a career-low 20.1 minutes per game last season with the Heat and scored just 4.1 points per game. His contract expires after this season, but the deal with ESPN isn't expected to be announced unit latter the NBA Finals.

Miami Heat forward Shane Battier has been named the NBA Twyman-Stokes Teammate of the Year. The NBA will make a donation of $25,000 to Battier's Take Charge Foundation. While Battier has had a quiet postseason, Battier's locker room influence is clearly monumental. Charlotte's Al Jefferson placed second while Dallas' Dirk Nowitzki placed third.

Shane Battier moved to a bench role on Tuesday, scoring three points with zero rebounds in eight minutes of action. Udonis Haslem took over the PF position but he also had a quiet game, scoring seven points with three rebounds in 19 minutes, and it will be interesting to see if coach Erik Spoelstra tweaks his lineup again for Game 3. The Heat gave up 16 offensive boards while being out-rebounded on Tuesday, but their defense limited Indiana to 83 points on 40.0 percent shooting in Miami's clutch road win.

Shane Battier (flu) will replace Udonis Haslem in Miami's starting lineup for Tuesday's game. Battier recently got over his illness and it makes sense for coach Erik Spoelstra to deploy Battier against the Nets, who start Paul Pierce at power forward. The small-ball trend continued with another minor tweak, as Michael Beasley replaced Greg Oden on Miami's active roster.

Shane Battier was limited during Friday's practice due to a lingering flu. "I'm almost there. I'm not doing great, but I got tired of staying home," Battier said on Friday. He played a mere two minutes during the first round of the playoffs, as coach Erik Spoelstra gave more playing time to James Jones, Udonis Haslem and Chris Andersen.

Shane Battier will start against the Wizards on Monday. He'll join Mario Chalmers, Toney Douglas, Dwyane Wade and Udonis Haslem in the starting lineup. Battier should get his fair share of corner 3-pointers, so he's worth a look for owners looking to add at least two of their 3-pointers total.

Shane Battier will start in place of Udonis Haslem (virus) on Tuesday. Battier gives the Heat a different look and he may match up better anyway, since the Nets deploy Paul Pierce at PF when Kevin Garnett isn't active (he's out Tuesday). Fantasy owners shouldn't expect more than a few 3-pointers from Battier, who is expected to retire after this season.

Shane Battier confirmed that he plans to retire this summer, saying, "It would take an act of the basketball gods to bring me back next year." Battier is averaging career-lows in most categories this season, including points (4.2), rebounds (2.0), assists (0.9) and minutes (20.4). The time for a career retrospective will come soon enough, but for now the 35-year-old is focused on gearing up for another title defense with Miami.