Ex-Heat Defensive-Stopper Faced Challenging Battle In Retirement

When an NBA player's time in the league is running out, it could create inner turmoil because basketball is their life.

This was the case for former Miami Heat player Shane Battier, who played a key role in the 2013 championship. He hit six-three pointers in Game 7 against the San Antonio Spurs.

However, the following year, things began to change. Battier saw limited playing time, even in fourth quarters, where he once was a difference-maker. During the Heat's 2014 NBA Finals loss to the Spurs, he scored just five points in 33 minutes.

"Nothing was worse to me than sitting me in crunch time," Battier emphasized on the "Pablo Torre Finds Out" podcasts. "That was my identity. It hurt me to my core. That's when I knew I was done. I was embarrassed, and I checked out. And so when I retired, I was very cynical. And I was so sad, but I was also very cynical."

That was Battier's final year in the NBA. He accepted a position with ESPN as a college basketball analyst. The transition was difficult because he wasn't fully engaged with the broadcast side of the game.

"I shut people out," Battier continued. "I was probably battling depression. I didn't know what depression was. I never had this feeling before. But feeling very isolated. I didn't feel anyone understood what I was going through. I felt very alone, and I pushed people away. I pushed my wife away; I pushed my kids away. And I was just a jerk."

He left ESPN at the end of 2015 before being hired as the Heat's director of basketball development and analytics.

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