Philadelphia 76ers guard Tyrese Maxey just proved that he is both an emerging leader and a huge Marvel superfan. The 25-year-old star built his Avengers-style NBA starting lineup, choosing his own Captain America, Iron Man, and more characters.

Maxey appeared on the March 24 episode of the coveted The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, where the host once took the conversation into the Marvel world. Fallon asked Maxey to name his personal Avengers starting lineup using NBA players. This was framed for the NBA playoffs and strictly restricted to just 5 spots. 

For Spider-Man, Maxey picked himself or Donovan Mitchell. He said that Spider-Man is his favorite character overall. He connected the web-slinger's style to the way undersized guards play in the NBA. He then chose Shai Gilgeous-Alexander as Iron Man “because of who he is, how he dresses, and he just likes to troll on Instagram, in captions.”

For the Hulk, he chose Detroit Pistons big man Isaiah Stewart. He referenced a famous 2021 incident, explaining, “Any man that is going to chase LeBron, I think that he should be the Hulk. There’s no stopping him when he gets angry. I don’t think anybody’s getting in front of him when he’s angry.”

LeBron James was an ideal choice for Captain America. Maxey praised his leadership and legacy, saying, “Everything he does is special, and he just goes out there, like he did at the Olympics.” 

He then picked Luka Doncic as Thor. Maxey said, “They call him Luka Magic for a reason. Only he can do some of the things, you know what I’m saying. Only he can do those things. And Thor was the same way. Only Thor can do those things. He’s magical. That’s how I feel about Luka.”

Well, being asked about Marvel or other mainstream stuff isn't new to NBA stars.

Longstanding Pop Culture Crossover of the NBA and Marvel

In 2010, “ESPN The Magazine” created a huge Marvel-NBA mashup. They collaborated with Marvel artists such as Olivier Coipel, Leinil Francis Yu, and J. Scott Campbell to reimagine NBA storylines. 

The Cleveland Cavaliers received a “Spider-Man No More” parody, which linked to LeBron James leaving the team. The Miami Heat were drawn in a superteam formation featuring Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh. 

The crossover of these two worlds leaped in May 2021 with Marvel’s Arena of Heroes broadcast. This was a live, themed game presentation on ESPN2 between the Golden State Warriors and New Orleans Pelicans. Star players like Stephen Curry, Draymond Green, Zion Williamson, and Brandon Ingram earned "Marvel Hero points" for their stats. 

Maxey’s recent Avengers lineup appears to be a good one for this larger tradition while remaining uniquely personal.

But would you make any changes to his superhero starting five? 

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Written by

Utsav Sinha

Edited by

Souvik Roy