Battier voted NBA's top teammate

Shane Battier called it one of the biggest honors of his life.

The Miami Heat forward was announced on Saturday as the winner of the league's Twyman-Stokes Teammate of the Year award, which recognizes self-less play, leadership, work as a role model to other players and commitment. The NBA will make a $25,000 donation to The Battier Take Charge Foundation, which raises money to help provide children with educational and leadership opportunities.

Battier received 67 first-place votes and appeared on 209 ballots cast by NBA players in all, finishing as a runaway winner of the award. Charlotte's Al Jefferson was second and Dallas' Dirk Nowitzki was third in the balloting, in which players could not vote for a teammate.