ESPN's Chris Palmer, noted contrarian, recently tweeted that "Brittney Griner could be a Top 100 player in NCAA mens hoops. Possible." Most people laughed it off, and our own Glenn Davis gave it careful consideration, but wasn't really buying it. Now, Dallas Mavericks owner/talkative guy Mark Cuban has stirred up actual controversy, saying that he may actually pick her in the 2013 NBA Draft. He sounded entirely serious.
"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."
This is more serious than Palmer's tweet, because it's a guy with actual power, and selecting her in the second round of the NBA draft would suggest that she's one of the best 60 NBA prospects in college basketball, a much bolder claim than suggesting she could possibly be a top 100 player at the less-imposing college level.
I'm not sure I buy it, but Cuban does make a reasonable point. I personally don't think she has any chance of succeeding (though it would be awesome if she somehow did), but he'd sell out some Summer League games, and it's unlikely that a different pick would succeed, either.
Griner would love the opportunity. "I would hold my own! Lets do it." she wrote on Twitter on Tuesday night in response to Cuban.
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