6. Shane Battier

Shane Battier is regarded as one of the smarter NBA players of all times – and you will see why. Battier attended Duke University. He stayed there for entire four years straight and graduated with an impressive 3.5 GPA. These academic credentials are normally associated with scientists and engineers, not often with professional basketball players.

The best thing about Battier was his high IQ and quick thinking. He was able to study and get stellar grades while being a valuable NBA player. Battier didn’t study to get a job, in fact he studied in Religious Studies. He said he just wanted to learn more about the world. This shows that he loves education, he craves for knowledge instead of having materialistic motivations.