Mark Cuban says he might draft Brittney Griner

[Snakehead]

I'm just picturing scal man handling people during those one on ones and that being her. I really don't even know if shed make a legit prep school team

Yeah you're right.

I played some ball with D1 women (my sister was one, needed me to fill out pick up games at the gym on occasion) and
 it's just not a contest between men and women.  They can be great shooters and ball handlers but physically it just doesn't match up at all.

Just out of curiosity, physically, how many of those D1 women were 6'8, 210 lbs?

None.

I'm 6' 5", the tallest amongst them was 6' 3" I believe.  But I played small school basketball... we're talking NBA here.

Just doing the relative math to that level of basketball.  At 6' 8" she isn't big.

[kozlodoev]

Just doing the relative math to that level of basketball.  At 6' 8" she isn't big.

She's pretty much the size of Tayshaun Prince or Nicolas Batum, for all practical purposes.

She's not going to be confused with Yao Ming, but 6'8 is pretty big. Whether she can play in the NBA, of course, is a whole different discussion.

[oldmanspeaks]

Years ago I used to play against one of the top women players in college ball and she could shoot with anyone and regularly beat me one on one due to her shooting ability. (I was a good shot but she was a great shot).  However the strength difference is just too great between a pro guy and pro woman. I was a mediocre athlete at best and I had no trouble getting position on a top college woman player who was the same height as me. A good athlete would have simply overpowered her. I know college basketball players who were guards who benched 300 for example. 

[connor]

Just doing the relative math to that level of basketball.  At 6' 8" she isn't big.

She's pretty much the size of Tayshaun Prince or Nicolas Batum, for all practical purposes.

She's not going to be confused with Yao Ming, but 6'8 is pretty big. Whether she can play in the NBA, of course, is a whole different discussion.

The difference between Griner throwing her weight around down low and Prince or Batum is huge though. Same size doesn't equal same physicality.

Add that to the fact that Batum and Prince are both SF and if she was hanging out in the low post (where she plays best) it would probably be against a PF and then you are talking much bigger guys height and more importantly weight.

[indeedproceed]

Marc Cuban is just makin headlines. Must've been feeling a lil lonely.

[KGs Knee]

Look at me....Look at me!

That's all this is.  It's kind of pathetic.

[kozlodoev]

Just doing the relative math to that level of basketball.  At 6' 8" she isn't big.

She's pretty much the size of Tayshaun Prince or Nicolas Batum, for all practical purposes.

She's not going to be confused with Yao Ming, but 6'8 is pretty big. Whether she can play in the NBA, of course, is a whole different discussion.

The difference between Griner throwing her weight around down low and Prince or Batum is huge though. Same size doesn't equal same physicality.

Add that to the fact that Batum and Prince are both SF and if she was hanging out in the low post (where she plays best) it would probably be against a PF and then you are talking much bigger guys height and more importantly weight.

When I say "size", I also mean similar weight. Batum is listed at 210, and Prince is listed at 215. Griner is listed at 208 or so.

The point is, she has the size to fit an NBA position, whether she has the appropriate skill, strength and athleticism to do so is a separate discussion.

[CelticConcourse]

Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban says he would consider drafting Baylor All-American Brittney Griner.

Cuban told reporters before Tuesday night's game between the Mavericks and the Lakers that if Griner is the best player available, "I will take her."

The 6-foot-8 Griner finished her college career as the NCAA leader in blocked shots and the second-leading scorer in women's college basketball history.

Cuban says he has already thought about it and "Right now, I'd lean towards yes, just to see if she can do it. You never know unless you give somebody a chance."

Cuban said Griner would have to make the team and he isn't "opposed to giving her the opportunity."
He adds: "That'd sell out a few games."

Griner responded with a tweet: "I would hold my own! Lets do it"

Ann Meyers Drysdale was the first woman to get a tryout with an NBA team. The former UCLA and U.S. women's Olympic team star signed a contract with the Indiana Pacers in 1979 but didn't make the team.

http://www.nba.com/2013/news/04/03/cuban-draft-brittney-griner.ap/index.html?ls=iref:nbahpts

That could be interesting....?

[jambr380]

It certainly would be an interesting move. I've always been a little skeptical of pf/c women being able to hold their own in the nba, but obviously there haven't been many players like Griner.

I always thought that if there was one women player who could have been competitive in nba, it was Taurasi. There have been many smaller pgs in the nba and she wouldn't have to bang down low.

I do think it would be great if she were given a shot and even greater if she made the team!

[Snakehead]

Just doing the relative math to that level of basketball.  At 6' 8" she isn't big.

She's pretty much the size of Tayshaun Prince or Nicolas Batum, for all practical purposes.

She's not going to be confused with Yao Ming, but 6'8 is pretty big. Whether she can play in the NBA, of course, is a whole different discussion.

The difference between Griner throwing her weight around down low and Prince or Batum is huge though. Same size doesn't equal same physicality.

Add that to the fact that Batum and Prince are both SF and if she was hanging out in the low post (where she plays best) it would probably be against a PF and then you are talking much bigger guys height and more importantly weight.

When I say "size", I also mean similar weight. Batum is listed at 210, and Prince is listed at 215. Griner is listed at 208 or so.

The point is, she has the size to fit an NBA position, whether she has the appropriate skill, strength and athleticism to do so is a separate discussion.

Well that's kind of the discussion we are having.

Even if the weight is the same, the strength is not.  Plus she plays a post game in totality, not a SF game like the guys you are comparing her to.

[CelticConcourse]

If she's the best-player-available, that probably means there was a terrorist attack at the draft combine, because there's lots of male bigs better than her.

I agree, Mark Cuban is a top-3 owner in the NBA

[LarBrd33]

Didn't Griner already play for Dallas in 2008?...

No wait, that was Gerald Green.  My bad.  I always get those two confused. 

Yes, I know... sick joke I've been stretching out for 5 years. 

As others have said, if anything it would just be a publicity stunt... like when Cuban signed Rodman for a handful of games. 

It would, unfortunately, be damaging to Griner's career, though.  She wouldn't be good enough to even hang with the guys in the D-League.  She'd be absolutely dominated.  And the WNBA is desperate to have the illusion of a "superstar"... Griner could be the Kareem of the women's league.  That image would be toast (in addition to whatever little credibility the women's league had) if Griner inevitably embarrassed herself getting dominated by men.

It's not a sexist thing, I'm sorry to say.  I've seen with my own eyes Division 1 Women's bball players get dominated in pickup game by a bunch of 5'8 white dudes who couldn't make their high school team.  Granted, they weren't on the level of Griner.. but the gap in talent/ability/athleticism is almost unmeasurable.

[TA9]

Sorry if i sound stupid, but are women allowed to play in the NBA if they are given the chance? I have never heard about women being allowed to play in the NBA, so im just curious right now

[CelticConcourse]

Sorry if i sound stupid, but are women allowed to play in the NBA if they are given the chance? I have never heard about women being allowed to play in the NBA, so im just curious right now

I don't believe there are any rules against it.