Mark Cuban to Brittney Griner: 'I Will Take Her' for NBA Draft, Says Mavericks Owner
Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban is interested in drafting Britney Griner into the NBA.
During a recent interview Cuban said he would "seriously consider" drafting the 6-foot-8 female player from Baylor. A senior with over 3,000 points in her career history, Griner blocked 736 shots as of March- a NCAA record for both men and women's college basketball. Cuban has taken note and said he would consider her as a second-round draft pick.
"If she is the best on the board, I will take her," Cuban told the ESPN 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?"
Get Our Latest News for FREE
Cuban admitted that he was tempted just to see if Griner could prove herself.
"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," he added.
But Cuban said that evaluating Griner as an NBA candidate could be hard at this point because of her current competition. If Griner wasn't a good candidate for the NBA, Cuban said that he would at least like to have Griner on his summer Dallas league.
"She'd still have to make the team," Cuban told the ESPN. "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."
Griner responded to Cuban by stating that she was all in.
"I would hold my own! Lets do it," she responded to Cuban on Twitter.
Cuban's offer could be an answer from God after Griner said Monday that she was disappointed about no longer being a collegiate athlete.
"First day of not being a collegiate athlete! #sucksCity," she wrote on Twitter, "but hey God has a plan for all of us and we will learn it as the days go by!"
