So Long Shane

<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">Shane Battier was just sitting down to dinner with the sponsors of his summer camp when his cell phone rang.
"Excuse me," he said. "I have to take this call."

Battier stepped outside, answered the phone, and learned that after five years, he was no longer a member of the Memphis Grizzlies.

He let this sink in for a long moment. He stepped back into the restaurant.

"I've just had some interesting news," he said. "I've been traded to Houston."

Pause.

"But I don't want it to ruin the dinner," he said, and is that perfect Battier or what?

The guy's life had just been flipped upside down. He had a new team and a new town.

But, hey, don't let it get in the way of your shrimp cocktail or anything.

Battier stayed and mingled for another two hours. Thursday morning, he was back at camp at 8:30 a.m., giving the kids the word of the day.

Perseverance.

"No matter what happens, you have to keep going and do your best," Battier said.

Good advice, no? For the kids and all of us.

So we say goodbye to Battier, and offer this page as tribute and thanks.

It is not a lamentation. The Grizzlies did what they had to do Wednesday night. Jerry West had a splendid draft, even if Austin Lacy did not.

Austin is 8 years old and a student at Battier's camp. When he heard Battier had been traded, he went upstairs to rub his lucky rabbit's foot.

"In hopes that he'd come back," said Kellie Miller, Austin's mother.

She gently explained that's not how the NBA works. Players get traded. Even players you really, really love.

The key is, you know, what Shane said.

Perseverance.

But it's sure going to be different, isn't it?

Shane Battier became a Memphis Grizzly on June 27, 2001. General Manager Billy Knight walked into the media room before the pick was even announced.

"You want to know who we're taking?" he said.

Sure!

"Shane Battier is the guy we picked," he said. "We knew as soon as Golden State said they were taking Jason Richardson."

Said Battier: "I can't wait to get to Memphis."

How could anyone not like the sound of that?

He couldn't wait to get to Memphis! He wanted to be one of us!

For a city that had struggled with its self-image, it was the best thing Battier could have said.

And for the next five years, he was one of us, a Memphian, and proud of it, too.

He lived downtown. He went to BarbecueFest and served on the board of the zoo.

Memphis had Battier longer than Duke had Battier.

Memphis had Battier longer than it had any Tiger great you can name.

He played through three coaches and two arenas. He got married as a Grizzly, opened and closed a restaurant, bought his first house.

So, absolutely, it's painful to see him go. But what a glorious run.

Battier's very first day of practice, the Grizzlies sent everyone on a 12-minute sprint.

"Shane," said coach Sidney Lowe, "he just took off and left everyone."

OK, Michael Dickerson caught Battier at the end. But he was learning, see.

Just like the city was learning, about the entire professional enterprise.

Battier's NBA career matches Memphis's NBA career. You can tell our story through his words.

Oct. 2, 2001, after the first day of practice: "I was looking for my No. 2 pencils and my stapler."

Nov. 1, 2001, after the Grizzlies lost their first regular-season game: "Nobody said it would be all roses."

Dec. 21, 1001, after the Grizzlies' home win over the Los Angeles Lakers: "Not bad for a little ol' city like Memphis."

Nov. 31, 2004, after Hubie Brown resigned: "This, too, shall pass."

March 1, 2005, as the Grizzlies kept winning despite a horrendous string of injuries: "It's not our nature to draw love letters to the health fairy."

It wasn't either, not with Battier on the team. Everyone talks about Battier the splendid citizen. They forget he's a winner, too.

He helped set a new tone for the Grizzlies, every bit as much as West or Brown.

Just you watch. Houston will make the playoffs next year, and it won't all be because of Tracy McGrady and Yao Ming.

But that's not why Battier is beloved in Memphis. He's beloved because, well, here's a letter sent to the paper from a guy named Steve.

It's from way back in 2002. Steve, a Memphis football fan, said Battier happened by his tailgate.

"After the game, he came up to me and asked me where they needed to put the trash," Steve wrote. "Can you believe that with his millions of dollars he started picking up the trash and cleaning the area?"

Actually, yes. We can believe it because he did that kind of thing all the time.

He remembered names. He was always polite. If he went into the stands, it was only at the end of the year, to give a kid his shoes.

Battier isn't a mythic figure. He's just decent, and thoughtful, and he tries his best every day.

Isn't that what you want from your athletes? Isn't that what you want from your kids? And isn't a pleasure to have had someone like that in the city, a player you could tell your sons and daughters to emulate without reservation?

As Battier's summer camp wound down Thursday, parents gathered to pick up their children. Some came early. It was just that kind of day.

Bill Walden, 41, watched his son Griffen race up and down the floor. Griffen is 8.

"I just wanted him to have some interaction with Shane," he said. "I wanted him to hear Shane talk about the things parents talk about all the time. Like hard work, integrity, things like that."

Walden shrugged. He said his son was "distraught" about the trade.

The kids are sure going to miss that Battier.

The grownups, too. </div>

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Awesome article. Battier is the perfect example of a guy who gives you everything, the perfect role player. Memphis may have maid out like bandits, especially in the future, with this deal, but like Sir Desmond said, they'll always miss Shane.