Shane Battier Announces He's Joining The Heat Via Jimmy Buffett Quote

If you were looking for a fresh reason to hate on the Miami Heat this year, Shane Battier's come through for you. The Grizzlies forward announced on Twitter this morning that he's joining the Heat. Somehow, a Jimmy Buffett reference made it into the mix. That alone almost makes this more damning than LeBron's The Decision:

The Lockout gave me a lots of time to consider what was important to me at this stage of my life and career. Over the last week, I've played out every scenario in my head over and over. It always came back to one thing for me: a winning role. I am appreciative of all the kind words and recruiting pitches over the last week, thank you!!

This was a exciting process and after much deliberation, I would like to quote the great poet Jimmy Buffett and take my chances "Trying to Reason with Hurricane Season"

He added, "Let's Go #Heat!!!!!"

On the bright side, the Buffett quote is good for the Heat haters, who desperately needed a new variation on the "taking my talents" meme. But it's also very, very good for the Heat, who are now somehow more terrifyingly loaded than they were last season, when they advanced to Game 6 of the NBA finals. Miami might now have the truest "Big 4" in the league.

We'll update once the terms of the deal are released, but it seems likely that Battier will be taking a pay cut, as well.