Esteban Batista

Esteban Damián Batista Hernández (born September 2, 1983) is a Uruguayan former professional basketball player. He was the first ever Uruguayan to play in the NBA.

Batista began his pro career in the Uruguayan League in 2001. He then moved to the second division of Spain, the Spanish LEB League in 2003.

Batista was signed as a free agent by the Atlanta Hawks on September 12, 2005. He made his NBA debut on November 2 of that year, going scoreless in 6 minutes of play time against the Golden State Warriors. In his first NBA season, Batista averaged 1.8 points per game and 2.5 rebounds per game in 8.7 minutes per game, in 57 games played.

On September 26, 2007, Batista signed a non-guaranteed contract with the Boston Celtics. On October 16, 2007, however, Batista was waived by the team.

On the same day that he was released by the Celtics, he signed with the EuroLeague team Maccabi Tel Aviv.

Batista joined the Russian Super League team Triumph Lyubertsy in December 2008, but left the club shortly thereafter for personal reasons.

Batista signed a three-year contract with Alta Gestión Fuenlabrada at the summer of 2009. In January 2011, he signed with the Euroleague team Caja Laboral.

In July 2011, he signed a two-year contract with Anadolu Efes of the Turkish Basketball League. In August 2013, he signed a one-year contract with Pınar Karşıyaka also of the Turkish Basketball League.