The Miami Heat have known Shane Battier to be a valuable teammate. Now it's clear others know that, too.
Battier, who's planning to retire after this season, was named the 2013-14 Twyman-Stokes Teammate of the Year, it was announced Saturday.
The Twyman-Stokes Teammate of the Year Award is voted annually by NBA players and recognizes the best teammate based on selfless play, on and off-court leadership as a mentor and role model to other NBA players, and his commitment and dedication to his team. The vote occurs after a panel of NBA legends nominate six players from each conference as award finalists.
Battier (1,322 total points, 67 first-place votes) beat out Charlotte's Al Jefferson (798 points), Dallas' Dirk Nowitzki (784 points), Los Angeles Clippers' Chris Paul (754 points), Los Angeles Lakers' Pau Gasol (753 points), San Antonio's Manu Ginobili (739 points), Phoenix's Channing Frye (568 points), Golden State's Andre Iguodala (552 points), Orlando's Jameer Nelson (546 points), Atlanta's Elton Brand (452 points), Indiana's David West (447 points) and Chicago's Mike Dunleavy (345 points).
Ten points were awarded for a first-place vote, seven for second, five for third, three for fourth and one for fifth. Players were not allowed to vote for a member of their own team.
Chauncey Billups won the award last season, it's inaugural year.
The NBA will make a $25,000 donation to The Battier Take Charge Foundation.
Former NBA stars Jack Twyman and Maurice Stokes were friends and teammates on the Rochester/Cincinnati Royals from 1955-58. In the last game of the 1957-58 regular season, Stokes suffered an on-court injury that led to him falling into a coma days later, leaving him permanently paralyzed. Diagnosed with post-traumatic encephalopathy, a brain injury that damaged his motor-control center, Stokes was supported for the rest of his life by Twyman, who became his legal guardian and advocate.
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