HoopsHype.com Rumors

After Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban said he would consider drafting Baylor's Brittney Griner, the age-old debate took off. Can the girls compete with the boys? Nancy Lieberman has a better perspective than most. "There's not a man who would sell his soul and let her come down and dunk on him. They are going to knock her on her ass," Lieberman, the first woman to play in a men's professional league, said Wednesday. Since the 6-8 Griner plays the post, there is no way that she can physically compete with NBA players, Lieberman, one of the game's all-time greats, said. USA Today Sports

Dallas Mavericks, Draft, Mark Cuban, Nancy Lieberman, Brittney Griner 

Even so, Lieberman, who played in the USBL in the late 1980s, said if Griner called her tomorrow for advice about the NBA, she would tell her: "Do it, girl. You can do this. You should go out there if you're afforded the opportunity because how many people in their lifetime would? You're going to do what nobody has ever done." USA Today Sports

Dallas Mavericks, Draft, Mark Cuban, Nancy Lieberman, Brittney Griner 

Then there was UConn coach Geno Auriemma who said Cuban shouldn't waste his draft pick on June 27. "I think it would be a sham," Auriemma said Wednesday. "The fact that a woman could actually play right now in the NBA and compete successfully against the level of play that they have is absolutely ludicrous." "If Brittney Griner tries to make it to an NBA team, I think it would be a public relations thing," Auriemma said on a Final Four teleconference with reporters. Cuban is a financial genius, Auriemma said, but "his genius would take a huge hit if he drafted Brittney Griner." USA Today Sports

Dallas Mavericks, Draft, Mark Cuban, Nancy Lieberman, Geno Auriemma, Brittney Griner 

Cuban reiterated his interest in Griner on Wednesday. "We evaluate every draft eligible player on the planet," Cuban told USA TODAY Sports in an email when asked to respond to Auriemma's comments. "The chance of any college graduate selected at the end of the draft making a roster is very, very small. We wouldn't be doing our job if we didn't consider everyone. "As I told the media (Tuesday), she would have to excel in workouts to get drafted. I have no problem giving her that opportunity. I hope she gives it a shot. "Nothing harms an organization or company more than a closed mind." USA Today Sports

Dallas Mavericks, Draft, Mark Cuban, Nancy Lieberman, Geno Auriemma, Brittney Griner 

Darnell Mayberry: Also of note, Nancy Lieberman will serve as the Thunder studio analyst this year. Lieberman will replace Stephen Howard. Twitter @DarnellMayberry

Oklahoma City Thunder, Media, Nancy Lieberman 

The NBA D-League's Texas Legends will introduce 1995 NBA Coach of the Year Del Harris as their new coach Tuesday, according to team sources. Harris, 74, worked as the Legends' general manager in their inaugural season while also serving as a sounding board to former Legends coach Nancy Lieberman, who became the first-ever female to coach a men's team under the NBA's umbrella in 2010-11. Citing family reasons, Lieberman surrendered her coaching duties in July, opting to become the Legends' assistant general manager so she could avoid heavy traveling during her son T.J.'s senior year of high school. ESPN.com

Coaching, D-League, Nancy Lieberman, Del Harris 

Marc Stein: Sources say D-League's Texas Legends will introduce 1995 NBA Coach of Year Del Harris as their new coach Tuesday, succeeding Nancy Lieberman Twitter

Coaching, D-League, Nancy Lieberman, Del Harris 

It's not quite a done deal yet, but it sure sounds like it could be soon. Donnie Nelson and the Texas Legends rolled out the red carpet for former Tennessee coach Bruce Pearl on Thursday, with a pitch for Pearl to become the NBA Development League team's next head coach. The duo addressed the media at the American Airlines Center and Legends owner Nelson said the team put together "the most aggressive package in D-League history" in an effort to put Pearl at the Legends' helm, a spot left vacant after Nancy Lieberman made a move to the team's front office earlier this month. "He is our A-Man and we are hoping to make something happen," Nelson said. "We have had basketball dialogue all day long. Based on our lunch this afternoon, my wallet is not near as big as Mark [Cuban] but it is wide open." Fort Worth Star-Telegram

Dallas Mavericks, Coaching, Donnie Nelson, Nancy Lieberman, Bruce Pearl 

Earl K. Sneed: Donnie Nelson on what it will take to sign Pearl: "My wallet is not nearly as big as (Mark Cuban's) but it's completely wide open." Twitter

Dallas Mavericks, Coaching, Donnie Nelson, Nancy Lieberman, Bruce Pearl 

After a groundbreaking season coaching NBA hopefuls, Nancy Lieberman is moving to the Texas Legends' front office. The women's basketball pioneer told ESPNDallas.com that she will be switching to the personnel side of the D-League team's operations starting next season, after taking the expansion Legends to the playoffs as the first female to coach a men's team under the NBA's umbrella. Lieberman said Sunday night that she debated the switch for weeks after the Legends' season ended in April, ultimately deciding that her long-held goal of "making it normal" for a woman to coach men at the game's highest level would have to be temporarily placed on hold for family reasons. "I have one son and he has one senior year," Lieberman said, referring to son T.J. Cline, who plays basketball at Plano West. "It's not to say I'll never coach again, because T.J. goes to college in a year, but I felt like this was the right thing to do right now. I don't want to have any regrets as a mom. I want him to look up and see me in the stands." ESPN.com

Dallas Mavericks, D-League, Nancy Lieberman 

D-League sources told ESPN.com that Lieberman will be formally named assistant general manager as early as Monday to work alongside Legends president of basketball operations Spud Webb and general manager Del Harris. Dallas Mavericks president of basketball operations Donnie Nelson heads the management team as Legends co-owner. Sources said Lieberman will also have a strong voice in the Legends' search for a successor, which will begin immediately because the D-League will continue to operate starting in October even if the NBA lockout has not been lifted. "It was a magnificent year," Lieberman said. "I made a lot of new friends for life. I'm in airports and people come up wanting to the talk about the D-League. I was poolside the other day in Hawaii (on vacation) and I run into (comedian) Tracy Morgan. And Tracy Morgan is talking about the Legends. ESPN.com

Dallas Mavericks, D-League, Nancy Lieberman 

Legends point guard Antonio Daniels said opponents constantly ask him, "What's it like to have a girl coach?" "The only difference is the fact we can't get dressed in the locker room if she's there," he said. "She knows what she's doing." Detroit Free Press

D-League, Nancy Lieberman, Antonio Daniels 

Lieberman said there IS one big difference between the D-League and the WNBA, of course. "You don't have 10 guys ovulating in the same locker room and an emotional wreck," she said. "I mean, that's just a fact. People don't think about that. Men tend to let things go or have it out, where women hold on to it, don't let it go. It's just part of it." Detroit Free Press

D-League, Nancy Lieberman, Antonio Daniels 

The Texas Legends thus took it hard upon learning that Daniels, who's trying to get back to the NBA as the D-League's oldest player ever at 35, will be lost for at least four to six weeks thanks to a hand injury that probably will require surgery. "We will miss him dearly on many levels," Legends coach Nancy Lieberman said Thursday night. ESPN.com

D-League, Injuries, Nancy Lieberman, Antonio Daniels 

Rookie guard Dominique Jones will be one of the featured attractions for the D-League Texas Legends’ first home game in Frisco. The Mavs will send their first-round pick down to the D-League for at least the rest of the week, allowing Jones to play in the Legends' next three games. “It’s a chance to play,” coach Rick Carlisle said. It’s a chance to work on his game. I’m sure [Legends coach Nancy Lieberman] will kick his ass, which is great. It’s an opportunity. Not many teams have a D-League team this close in proximity, so it’s an opportunity for us and for him.” ESPN.com

Dallas Mavericks, Nancy Lieberman, Rick Carlisle 

With the all the pomp and circumstance surrounding Nancy Lieberman's ground-breaking debut as coach of the Texas Legends of the NBA Development League, Thursday night's loss was all about basketball for her. The Frisco-based Legends fell to the defending champion Rio Grande Valley Vipers 123-115 before a nationally televised audience. The fact that the Hall of Famer became the first female to coach a men's professional team was an afterthought. "It was another game," Lieberman said. "I've been through thousands of them." ESPN.com

D-League, Nancy Lieberman 

If it weren't Nancy Lieberman, this wouldn't look so natural. A slender 5-8 woman is crouching on a hardwood court gazed upon by a dozen breathing, sweating, balling, human-equivalents of the Sears Tower who also happen to be male, and she's the one offering rebounding instruction. "This little box-out here, that's rec league," she says. "Send a message." She speaks with what you might call an outside voice. Not with a yell, but with enough oomph to emphasize a point to her Texas Legends basketball team. Dallas Morning News

D-League, Nancy Lieberman 

Her legs are wrapped in spandex, and writing a simile comparing the Lycra look with Wonder Woman wouldn't seem like hyperbole to those who know her. And everyone knows her. Muhammad Ali and Barack Obama have asked for her phone number. She drops the name Warren Buffett in the middle of conversation like she doesn't expect you to pause, and you almost don't pause because she's already re-enacted word-for-word conversations with A-listers in athletics and beyond, most of them men. "She is a kick-ass chick," Mavericks coach Rick Carlisle says. Dallas Morning News

D-League, Nancy Lieberman, Barack Obama, Rick Carlisle 

Nancy Lieberman is big news these days. Just ask President Obama. Lieberman, the Hall of Famer whom Dallas Mavericks guard Jason Terry calls the "Michael Jordan of women's basketball,'' was named last November as the first woman to coach in the NBA D-League. Last May, the Texas Legends boss was made to feel rather legendary when she visited the White House in honor of Jewish American Heritage Month. "I was invited and I went there and all he wanted to do (was talk basketball),'' Lieberman said of Obama. "It's weird. I felt this pull. He was shaking hands with all these people, in Congress, Senate, and then he looks at me and says, 'Nancy Lieberman.' I go, 'Hi Mr. President.' And he grabs my hand and he kind of pulls me. And I go out and we take a picture. And he's like, 'You've got to come play ball (on the White House court).''' FanHouse.com

D-League, Nancy Lieberman 

Lieberman isn't too worried about any adjustments players must make to being coached by a woman. "When I did the "Today''' show in May, Amy (Robach), one of the hosts said to me, 'How are these guys going to take information from a woman?''' Lieberman said. "My response was, 'It's going to be normal. We've been telling you guys what to do our whole lives.' Woman have telling you what to do. Your mother. Your grandma. Your wife. Your ex-wife. Your girlfriend. You've been communicated to by woman your whole life. What's the difference?'' Well, one difference is Lieberman will have a won-loss record by her name. She's aware she will be judged by on that mark and there will be some who might equate losses to the fact she's a woman. But that's no big deal. Lieberman figures to take care of that by winning. "We will win,'' she said. "We will win because every one of those 10 young men (on the Legends) that comes here will have career years. We will make them better individually.'' FanHouse.com

D-League, Nancy Lieberman