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Mark Cuban: Brittney Griner could play in the NBA

Mark Cuban: Brittney Griner would get a shot at joining the Dallas Mavericks says the owner. Mark Cuban said: 'If she is the best on the board, I will take her.'  Brittney Griner responded: 'I will hold my own!'

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(AP Photo/LM Otero, FIle)
Baylor's Brittney Griner (42) blocks the shot of Oklahoma's Joanna McFarland (53) during an NCAA college basketball game in Waco Texas in January. Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban says he would give her a shot at making his team. t

Mark Cuban says he'd give Baylor All-American Brittney Griner a shot at making his NBA team.

Here's what the owner of the Dallas Mavericks said before Tuesday night's game against the Los Angeles Lakers, according to ESPN:

"If she is the best on the board, I will take her. 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 responded on Twitter Wednesday: "I would hold my own! Let's do it."

For those who have been out of the country (or have been lodging under a rock) in recent weeks, Brittney Griner is a Baylor University phenom. At 6-feet 8-inches, she's taller than many NBA men. As a college player, she lead the NCAA in blocked shots (721) this year, and had the second-most points (3,123) scored ever in women's college basketball. And Griner has an NCAA women's record 14 career dunks to her credit.

In short, Griner's got game. No wonder Cuban would give her a shot. And if she played, it would sell NBA tickets. It would be the biggest Venus meets Mars moment in sports since golfer Michelle Wie took several runs at the men's PGA tour. 

In 2009, NBA Commissioner David Stern indicated that the men's professional basketball league might go co-ed at some point in the next decade.

"I think we might," Stern said. "I don't want to get into all kinds of arguments with players and coaches about the likelihood. But I really think it's a good possibility," according to The Bleacher Report.

That day may come sooner rather than later. But if Griner is signed by an NBA team, she wouldn't be the first.

In 1980, Ann Meyers Drysdale  made NBA history when she signed a $50,000 no-cut contract with the Indiana Pacers. She participated in a three-day tryout but didn't make the cut for the final squad.

But that was then, and 2013 may be Brittney Griner's turn.

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