Mark Cuban says he'll consider drafting Brittney Griner
Brittney Griner is the 6'8" standout star of Baylor's women's basketball team.
Mark Cuban says he'll consider drafting Brittney Griner
Brittney Griner is the 6'8" standout star of Baylor's women's basketball team. She's a three-time All-American who dunked 11 times in her senior year. After more than 3,200 points and nearly 750 blocks in her collegiate career, she's managed to pique the interest of Dallas Mavericks owner, Mark Cuban (You know, that guy from Shark Tank and Entourage).
"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."
Cuban added that it's difficult to assess how effective Griner would be because of the level of talent she's been competing against. He also noted that she'd have to earn her spot; he won't carry her just for the sake of doing so. Griner took to Twitter to welcome the challenge. [ESPN]
To slightly misquote the MadTV skit: "She look-a like-a man."— Dave Clemens- In college I was a mediocre recreational basketball player. One afternoon in the gym a group of us were playing pick-up ball. The women's college team was in another area of the gym. They challenged us to a full-court game. They didn't score a point and slunk away quietly.
Women can't compete with men in full contact sports.
They were great shots and would probably kill us in a free-throw shooting contest. But during the actual game, they rarely got off a shot and couldn't rebound a lick. Upper body strength is key. Look at Griner -- she's a rail. The boys would muscle her. Even the Louisville women kept her in check.
Mark Cuban is just grabbing headlines again.— yahzooman - To Mr Clemans - gender is irrelavent she'll need to be built somewhat like an NBA player to do that job.
Is that a surprise?
You thought maybe a 4',2" ballet dancer or jockey would be successful in the NBA?— robinlupe - i've never watched her play so i have no idea, but it does seem reasonable that a highly skilled woman like her could play in the NBA and do okay offensively - the lack of strength might not matter so much in an extremely uptempo transition offense. i mean there's tons of NBA teams that never even run half court sets...but there's no way she could guard a single player in the NBA - like literally every single player would be able to iso her and score easily— kilo_005
- meh, i'm all about 'if they are capable, let them try', but i just can't see this happening. i think strength is a huge factor and she won't have enough.— black dog
- Kilo and yahzoo, I respectfully disagree. She may potentially be out-muscled and out-performed by most of the league's players, but she would CERTAINLY have success against some NBA players, specifically our 76ers! She'd eclipse Spencer Hawes in rebounds with ease. Evan Turner would need to take a break from pouting and rolling his eyes--unlikely, making him an easy mark for her to exploit on offense. And Nick Young and the other 20,000 "shooting" guards on this team would be too busy chucking up threes to bother to isolate her on defense.— Ino_Karate
- One problem is she's 6'8 and thin as a rail. She plays center in college and would have to play small forward in the NBA. No way could she do that.— Elbarad
- Just like Michelle Obama looks like Patrick Ewing in a wig...this "chick" also looks like a dude....go ahead and draft her, so there is actually a reason to pay attention to the NBA— kelprod2-freemarket
- I think she could make the Sixers. But Cuban is obviously just like any basketball fan throwing it out there because he's curious if she could make it in the NBA. The Mavericks' basketball people will get the final word.— Phillies2008WSChamps
- She not only looks like a man, she sounds like one too (kinda like Evan Turner). Someone may want to check her "qualifications"... Oh, and she'd never make it in the NBA - she has no skillz. She only has the records because she's 3 feet taller than the rest of the league.— philly-born
- If you read Cuban's statement he left himself a way out of this ridiculous premise: "If she is the best on the board, I will take her". That automatically eliminates her.— Bob1
- Cheap pr stunt. Demeaning.— Gimmemyfreestuff
- She is NO different than a Sam Bowie or a Shawn Bradley or M. Bol ! If you break it down she is better than all three of them. I'll go one step further, I'll bet the Phila 76er's wish they had Brittney instead of that sloth, Bynum! At least YOU KNOW SHE IS GOING TO PLAY EVERY NIGHT and put up numbers!— Mona Lisa
- Just Mark Cuban being patronizing. Just what women need. I can see Britney backing down Dwight Howard and Mark Gasol. She'd be more effective joining the military and fighting in combat.— Maceo
- Every decade or so we have a phenom come along and attempt to play a sport with men. Recall Michelle Wei and Annika Sorenstam attempt to play on the PGA? She's an incredible players, truly. She'd get rolled in the NBA.— Murrayman
