Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban believes that Baylor Bears center Brittney Griner deserves a shot at making an NBA team, and Miami Heat forward Shane Battier might be willing to disagree. That doesn't mean he thinks there won't be a female basketball player capable of making an NBA team in the future.
Shane Battier says female player will be on NBA team ‘in our lifetime’
Miami Heat forward Shane Battier believes that a female player will make an NBA team ‘in our lifetime,’ even if Brittney Griner doesn’t.
Mike Ehrmann
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Battier told ESPN’s Tom Haberstroh that there’s “no doubt” a female player will play in the NBA “in our lifetime”:
“I don’t know if it’s Griner or if it’s someone who is 5 years old right now,” Battier said. “But we’ll see it. It’ll happen in our lifetime. Just the law of averages.”
Such a player would have to be a quick, athlete player and not a center, according to Battier. An easy comparison would be to the Heat forward's teammate, LeBron James. Battier said that a very skilled female player would still have trouble because of the NBA game's physicality. Strength, he said, would be the most problematic issue for a female player, Griner included, to make it in the league:
“Look, I’m 6-foot-8, 220 pounds and I guard (Indiana Pacers forward) David West and (Chicago Bulls forward) Carlos Boozer,” Battier told Haberstroh. “I lift weights twice a week and I think I’m strong as a 34-year-old man. And I struggle with those guys.”
Earlier this week, Cuban said he would consider drafting Griner in the second round of the NBA draft. The 6’8, 210-pound center is expected to be the first overall pick in the upcoming WNBA draft.
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