The way Brittney Griner has dominated women's college basketball the last few years, more than a few people have wondered if she could hold up playing against men. One of those people is Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban, and he's more than willing to give her the opportunity.
Mark Cuban says Mavericks could draft Brittney Griner
Mavericks owner Mark Cuban said he would strongly consider drafting Baylor’s Brittney Griner in the second round of this year’s draft.
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Cuban spoke to ESPN Dallas’ Tim MacMahon on Tuesday and said that he would strongly consider drafting Griner in this year’s upcoming draft:
“If she is the best on the board, I will take her,” Cuban said before the Mavs’ Tuesday night game against the Los Angeles Lakers. “I’ve thought about it. I’ve thought about it already. Would I do it? Right now, I’d lean toward yes, just to see if she can do it. You never know unless you give somebody a chance, and it’s not like the likelihood of any late-50s draft pick has a good chance of making it.”
The 6’8 Griner will go down as one of the best ever to play women’s college basketball. She holds the NCAA record for blocked shots and is the second-leading scorer in history. She’s a three-time All-American and won Big 12 Player of the Year three times in a row.
Cuban understands the difficulty of evaluating whether Griner could play in the NBA, but even if he did not draft her, he said that he would be open to extending an invitation to try out in the summer. It would not be the first time a woman tried out for an NBA team, as former UCLA star Ann Meyers tried out for the Indiana Pacers in 1979.
Griner took to Twitter to respond to Cuban’s comments, saying she was all for it and that she could “hold her own.” And even if turned out that she could not hold her own, at the very least it would provide excellent marketing opportunities for both parties.
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