Philadelphia 76ers star Tyrese Maxey appeared on The Tonight Show starring Jimmy Fallon on Tuesday, where he was given an interesting task. Maxey was asked to build an Avengers starting lineup of NBA players, and to his credit, he made some solid choices.
The first superhero host Jimmy Fallon brought up was Spider-Man, and Maxey was a bit torn on who he’d go with.
“Spider-Man would either be me or Donovan Mitchell,” Maxey said. “Those are my two.”
Maxey loves Spider-Man, so he had to throw himself in there. As for why the 25-year-old loves him, it’s because he relates to him.
“He’s a kid, and he goes to high school, and he lives a normal life,” Maxey stated. “But then in the nighttime, the crime, he’s out there fighting crime, and no one knows who he is, but he’s just doing it because he’s a genuine person. And we appreciate him for that. So I feel like that’s kind of like my persona.”
Maxey and Donovan Mitchell, whose nickname is “Spida,” are pretty good choices for Spider-Man. Iron Man was the next superhero brought up, and the two-time All-Star went with Shai Gilgeous-Alexander.
“I think it would be Shai,” Maxey said. “Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, because of who he is, how he dresses… He trolls on Instagram. He puts his nice little captions… He’s hilarious. So I think that’s going to be my Iron Man.”
Gilgeous-Alexander is not the first name that comes to mind when you think of the NBA’s equivalent of Iron Man, but you can see where Maxey is coming from. As for his pick for the Hulk, it was a lot less surprising.
“This is funny,” Maxey stated. “I think the Hulk should be Isaiah Stewart, because any man that is going to chase LeBron [James], 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. So we’re going to let him be the Hulk.”
That’s a pretty accurate description of Detroit Pistons forward Isaiah Stewart. Maxey was, of course, referring there to the time when Stewart tried to charge at LeBron James after getting elbowed during a game in 2021.
Hornets Pistons fight got me reminiscing to this moment between Isaiah Stewart and LeBron James pic.twitter.com/psCE67AwOS
— CadeWrld 🇦🇺 (@WrldCade) February 10, 2026
Stewart is the Pistons’ enforcer, and he never shies away from a fight. Most recently, he was involved in the massive brawl that broke out during a game against the Charlotte Hornets on Feb. 9.
Getting back to James, he was Maxey’s pick for Captain America.
“Captain America will probably have to be LeBron James,” Maxey said. “… Everything that he does is special… Like he did for the Olympics, and he was a team leader for that. So he does a good job of leading our league.”
James has often been called the greatest “Face of the NBA” ever. The 41-year-old has his critics, but he has done a fine job of leading the league for about two decades.
Lastly, Maxey had to name an NBA player for the mighty Thor, and he went with James’ Los Angeles Lakers teammate Luka Doncic.
“Luka Doncic, because they call him Luka Magic for a reason,” Maxey stated. “… Only he can do those things, and Thor was the same way. Only Thor can do those things. He’s magical. And that’s how I feel about Luka. And he’s a great basketball player and a great person as well.”
Doncic is indeed phenomenal. He leads the NBA in scoring this season and racked up 100 points in about a 24-hour span last week. Doncic does things on the court that almost no one else can.
