Battier is already the Miami Heat’s vice president of basketball development and he owes a lot of the success to his strong knowledge of analytics. Earlier this week, he credited his time with Houston Rockets general manager Daryl Morey and assistant Sam Hinkie for acquiring the skill. Battier played with the Rockets from 2006-11. “I was lucky to play for Daryl Morey and Sam Hinkie, who taught me how to look at the data,” Battier told The Athletic. “Analytics is like blackjack. When the dealer has a five showing, what do you do? You double down. Why? Because the book tells you that is the best play at the time and gives you the most chance to win the hand and win money.”