Brittney Griner in the NBA?

[PHX]

LOS ANGELES -- Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban would be willing to give Baylor women's star Brittney Griner the opportunity to prove she could play in the NBA.

Cuban said he would consider selecting Griner, a 6-foot-8 three-time All-American and Big 12 player of the year, in the second round of the NBA draft. If the Mavs don't draft her, Cuban said he would have "no problem whatsoever" inviting Griner to try out for a spot on Dallas' summer league team.

"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."

Griner dominated women's college basketball with her size and athleticism, scoring 3,283 points and blocking 748 shots in her career. She also had 18 dunks, including 11 her senior season.

Griner would love the opportunity. "I would hold my own! Lets do it." she wrote on Twitter on Tuesday night in response to Cuban.

A woman trying out for an NBA team is not unprecedented. Former UCLA star Ann Meyers tried out for the Indiana Pacers in 1979.

Cuban said it's difficult to evaluate whether Griner could play in the NBA because of the caliber of her competition, comparing it to scouting players from small schools. However, Cuban said he was absolutely serious about at least extending an invitation for Griner to try out this summer.

"She'd still have to make the team," Cuban said. "I'm not going to carry her just to carry her. I don't think, anyways. But I certainly wouldn't be opposed to giving her the opportunity."

Cuban acknowledged that Griner playing in the NBA's Las Vegas summer league would have tremendous marketing potential.

"It would, wouldn't it? See how she could do?" Cuban said. "That'd sell out a few games."

I personally would like to see it happen if for nothing else just cause it hasn't happened before a woman actually playing in the NBA. Would be a awesome business move for Cuban just for him to be able to sell tickets on having the first ever woman in the NBA. I also think she could play pretty well and is better than some men in the NBA so I don't see why they shouldn't give her a shot in the NBA. Hell I wouldn't mind the Suns taking her she couldn't be any worse than the picks the Suns have made and they need any kind of star at this point lol.

 

[Kiffy Lube]

I was just thinking the other day how garbage the WNBA is and how much more interesting Women's College Basketball is to it. Griner is a huge reason why that is and if she completely jumped to the NBA over the WNBA I'd just laugh at the WNBA more than I usually do.

She deserves to at least have a chance at the big time though. She's got some extraordinary skills.

 

[Chris]

Should be interesting to say the least, I'd love to see it. I see a lot of backlash coming from it though if she ever gets fouled hard or something, but I agree that she should get the chance.

 

[SAIYANS]

Translation - I fucked up my franchise to all hell after they won a ring, no free agent worth a damn has ever signed in Dallas, and Dirk is retiring soon so let me create a side show.

If we were going just by talent, Cheryl Miller or Candice Parker would have been in the league. This is just weird and a way to create a media circus and make th Mavs relevant

 

[Showtime]

come on guys, this is never going to happen and it is insulting to say she would even be comparable to those guys. The second round nba players are all 10x better than she could ever hope to be simply due to the fact that she can't physically match up against men. She's a 6'8" center that can barely dunk and has only dunnked 18 times in her career, that wouldn't even match up to one of the best players in the league.

 

[zigglerHEEL]

yeah the notion that she could even relatively compete is pure nonsense.... Don't see what the problem with being the best women's player is... Men's and Women's basketball are 2 totally different games.... a 6'8" barely 200 lb post player with minimal athleticism would get just manhandled in the NBA... Cuban is just an attention whore

 

[Troy]

This is just a publicity stunt from Cuban, won't ever happen. I can see him getting her to train with a summer league team just to try to sell some tickets but she won't play in the NBA.

 

[Kiffy Lube]

She can always win tons of useless WNBA titles if that will make you folks happy.

 

[Weez]

I love Mark Cuban.

Publicity? Yes, but not 100%. As he said, if she's the best player on the board, he drafts her. I'm good with that. I'm good with a woman getting a shot. Hell, what's the worst that could happen?

Now, obviously that'd be late 2nd round. Like someone mentioned, she gets training camp, and he's got the balls to send her to the D League. Obviously, were she to ACTUALLY make an NBA Roster, she's not playing Center lol.

Had Miller been in her prime NOW, with her shooting, she could have made a roster. What's wrong with being a female Steve Kerr? lol

 

[Showtime]

She'll never be the best player left on the board. Ever. Once again that's insulting to those second rounders, they're all better than her and that isn't a knock on her, just the truth. they are all far superior athletically and physically and she just can't hope to compare.

She can always win tons of useless WNBA titles if that will make you folks happy.

It's better than her getting embarrassed in a league she doesn't stand a chance in.

 

[PHX]

The notion that a girl can't be better than a guy in basketball is a pretty shallow outlook and a sexist assumption. The same thing you just said about women being in the NBA is the same thing that pretty much got said with High school players going to the pros but some of them worked out and got a shot. There are some female basketball players who have been skilled enough and special enough to compete with guys and Griner is one of them.

 

[zigglerHEEL]

The notion that a girl can't be better than a guy in basketball is a pretty shallow outlook and a sexist assumption. The same thing you just said about women being in the NBA is the same thing that pretty much got said with High school players going to the pros but some of them worked out and got a shot. There are some female basketball players who have been skilled enough and special enough to compete with guys and Griner is one of them.

Guys, yes.... The Elite few that are good enough to play professionally, no..... She could very well end up being the greatest women's basketball player of all time which is a tremendous accomplishment, but what makes her so good and dominant is that the other women she plays against can't compare to her physically or athletically.... at 6'8 and 200 lbs she isn't nearly strong or big enough to compete with ANY centers or Power forwards in the NBA and she has absolutely zero outside game and nowhere near the quickness needed to play small forward..... This isn't sexist, I enjoy women's college basketball just as much as I do men's, it's just facts

 

[monkeystyle]

This reminds me of some of the stuff said about Manon Rheaume back in the day.

I don't really care about the publicity aspect. If Cuban wants to give her a shot to see how she does then so be it. If she washes out, she washes out. No big deal. It certainly doesn't hurt anything to give her a shot.

 

[Showtime]

The notion that a girl can't be better than a guy in basketball is a pretty shallow outlook and a sexist assumption. The same thing you just said about women being in the NBA is the same thing that pretty much got said with High school players going to the pros but some of them worked out and got a shot. There are some female basketball players who have been skilled enough and special enough to compete with guys and Griner is one of them.

How is it sexist to state facts? Women physically don't compare to men athletes. Griner is a beast in her sport and specimen comparable to what Shaq was to the NBA , but only in the WNBA. In the NBA she would not be only be oversized, but far overpowered and far too slow to keep up. Once again this is a woman that has dunked 18 times and that's record breaking for women's basketball, and a huge accomplishment for her, but it doesn't stack up to the players in the NBA, D-League, and yes those second round players you continue to insult by saying she compares.

 

[Rated R Superstar]

I say let her do it, if it fails it fails. It's a trial and error round boys. Shouldn't stop someone who actually wants to do it.