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AI-search company Yext appointed former NBA player and Miami Heat executive Shane Battier to its Board of Directors on June 30, according to a company

Battier has worked as the Miami Heat’s VP of Analytics and Basketball Development for over five years, where he oversees the organization’s strategic initiatives with data-based solutions.

On top of his current role at the NBA, Battier also sits on the Board at BOA Acquisition Corp., a blank check company pursuing acquisitions in real estate tech. He is also the founder of the Battier Take Charge Initiative, an organization dedicated to providing educational and developmental resources for kids in underserved communities.

"We're thrilled to welcome Shane to Yext's Board of Directors," said Michael Walrath, Chairman of Yext. "His incredible professional background, coupled with his natural talent for analysis and data-driven strategy, will give us a big boost as we embark on the next phase of Yext's incredible journey."

A player in the NBA for 13 years, Battier was named to the All-Rookie First Team in 2002 while playing with the Memphis Grizzlies. He went on to win back-to-back championships with the Miami Heat in 2012 and 2013.

NBA players have been embedded in Silicon Valley as far back as 2015, but according to , the trend of basketball stars jumping into tech investments is increasing. A broad range of startups have seen an increase in NBA investors since the beginning of 2021, including from all-star players like Brooklyn Nets forward Kevin Durant and Nets shooting guard James Harden.

Battier joins a packed board at Yext that aside from a slew of top leaders at the company also includes Tamar Yehoshua, Chief Product Officer at Slack and former VP of Product Management for Search at Google, and Seth Waugh, CEO of the PGA of America.

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