Battier Wins Teammate of Year Award

[tfk53]

Shane pulls in another award!
NBA Teammate of Year
Very telling that of 12 finalists - 6 from each conference - 3 were from Duke. Battier was joined by Dunleavy and Brand. Chris Paul also was in the list of 12. No one else with ACC ties.

http://nba.si.com/2014/05/24/shane-battier-teammate-of-the-year-award-nba-miami-heat/#more-72444


Excerpt about award:

"The NBA announced Saturday that Heat forward Shane Battier is the second annual winner of the Twyman-Stokes Teammate of the Year award.

The award — which recognizes the “ideal teammate” who displays “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” — was first presented last year, with then-Clippers guard Chauncey Billups being named the inaugural winner. Battier finished second in last year’s voting.

The award takes its name from Jack Twyman and Maurice Stokes, who spent three seasons as teammates on the Rochester Royals and Cincinnati Royals in the 1950s. Stokes suffered a career-ending head injury in 1958 and fell into a coma after a series of seizures. The injury eventually left Stokes paralyzed and Twyman soon became his legal guardian, caring for him and helping raise money for his medical bills."

[dukelifer]

Shane pulls in another award!
NBA Teammate of Year
Very telling that of 12 finalists - 6 from each conference - 3 were from Duke. Battier was joined by Dunleavy and Brand. Chris Paul also was in the list of 12. No one else with ACC ties.

http://nba.si.com/2014/05/24/shane-battier-teammate-of-the-year-award-nba-miami-heat/#more-72444


Excerpt about award:

"The NBA announced Saturday that Heat forward Shane Battier is the second annual winner of the Twyman-Stokes Teammate of the Year award.

The award — which recognizes the “ideal teammate” who displays “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” — was first presented last year, with then-Clippers guard Chauncey Billups being named the inaugural winner. Battier finished second in last year’s voting.

The award takes its name from Jack Twyman and Maurice Stokes, who spent three seasons as teammates on the Rochester Royals and Cincinnati Royals in the 1950s. Stokes suffered a career-ending head injury in 1958 and fell into a coma after a series of seizures. The injury eventually left Stokes paralyzed and Twyman soon became his legal guardian, caring for him and helping raise money for his medical bills."

The story of Twyman and Stokes is pretty amazing. Stokes was on his way to become one of the best player of his time, hit his head in a game and later that night suffered a seizure and went into a coma. Twyman became Stokes' legal guardian because someone needed to make medical decisions. Stokes never fully recovered but the two remained great friends until Stokes died ten years or so later. This is even more powerful as this was a time of signigicant racial tension in the country.

[johnb]

The story of Twyman and Stokes is pretty amazing. Stokes was on his way to become one of the best player of his time, hit his head in a game and later that night suffered a seizure and went into a coma. Twyman became Stokes' legal guardian because someone needed to make medical decisions. Stokes never fully recovered but the two remained great friends until Stokes died ten years or so later. This is even more powerful as this was a time of signigicant racial tension in the country.

it's a side issue, but it's unlikely that a current player would have such an outcome from a typical head injury suffered during a game. Between oxygenation and monitoring of intracranial pressure (which was being developed and expanded in the 1950's), the most catastrophic sequelae can generally be prevented if treatment starts quickly.

[dukelifer]

it's a side issue, but it's unlikely that a current player would have such an outcome from a typical head injury suffered during a game. Between oxygenation and monitoring of intracranial pressure (which was being developed and expanded in the 1950's), the most catastrophic sequelae can generally be prevented if treatment starts quickly.

He apparently continued to play and finish the game. Not exactly sure what happened and the course of the injury- but the symptoms appeared much later while boarding the plane.

[Billy Dat]

He apparently continued to play and finish the game. Not exactly sure what happened and the course of the injury- but the symptoms appeared much later while boarding the plane.

Great article on Stokes, Twyman and the charity game that grew out of their relationship
http://grantland.com/features/bryan-curtis-tragic-inspirational-story-maurice-stokes/

As for the award, with Billups getting it in year 1 and Shane in year 2, it is kind of setting up as a Lifetime Achievement award for well liked players in their last year. Let's see if that trend continues.

Obviously, I am thrilled that Shane was recognized.

[ice-9]

Obviously, I am thrilled that Shane was recognized.


Brings to mind this excellent article about Battier from last year's play-offs: http://espn.go.com/blog/truehoop/miamiheat/post/_/id/17593/shane-battier-and-the-nuances-of-basketball

A snippet:


Every so often you’ll glance at the official box score after a game and see a number that is so extreme that you’ll feel the urge to report it as an error. After Game 2 between the Miami Heat and the Chicago Bulls, there was one of these such moments.

In particular, the stat line next to Shane Battier’s name. In 22 minutes on the floor, Battier scored a measly three points on 1-for-3 shooting from downtown. He collected one steal, one rebound, one assist and got whistled for one foul. He attempted no free throws, took zero 2-pointers and didn’t block at shot.

Pretty standard Shane Battier game. Except for one thing:

His plus-minus for the game was plus-42.

I repeat: plus-42. That means that the Heat outscored the Bulls by 42 points in Battier’s 22 minutes on the floor. Has to be a typo, right? Has to be.

Of course, it wasn’t. As hard as it is to believe, the Heat actually outscored the Bulls 68 -26 in those 22 minutes that Battier was on the floor. It does not seem possible that such a blowout could occur in less than a half of basketball, but that's what happened.

[dukelifer]

Great article on Stokes, Twyman and the charity game that grew out of their relationship
http://grantland.com/features/bryan-curtis-tragic-inspirational-story-maurice-stokes/

As for the award, with Billups getting it in year 1 and Shane in year 2, it is kind of setting up as a Lifetime Achievement award for well liked players in their last year. Let's see if that trend continues.

Obviously, I am thrilled that Shane was recognized.

Thanks. I was wondering why no one made a movie about this- but I saw that they did in 1973. With the popularity of basketball- it might be worth a remake.

[flyingdutchdevil]

Great article on Stokes, Twyman and the charity game that grew out of their relationship
http://grantland.com/features/bryan-curtis-tragic-inspirational-story-maurice-stokes/

As for the award, with Billups getting it in year 1 and Shane in year 2, it is kind of setting up as a Lifetime Achievement award for well liked players in their last year. Let's see if that trend continues.

Obviously, I am thrilled that Shane was recognized.

When does Raymond Felton get the award? Oh...sorry...I didn't read the phrase "well liked". Gotcha

[lotusland]

When does Raymond Felton get the award? Oh...sorry...I didn't read the phrase "well liked". Gotcha
Felton would lick his chops if he heard there was an award for a team ate.

[MartyClark]

I vote for Shane. It doesn't matter what the position is. Pope, NCAA commissioner, Duke Athletic Director. He's got my vote. He's a remarkably self aware and talented guy.