Maxey is a superhero on the court and a comic book superfan off it

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Tyrese Maxey, a guy seemingly every Sixers fan is claiming they wanted all along on draft night, feels tailor-made for late-game heroics in Philly. Maxey's ability to play through contract and finish with a floater or get to the line may not qualify exactly as a superpower, but the new draftee is all about Marvel superheroes off the court.

I was all-in on Daryl Morey snagging Maxey for his pure basketball skills, but his love for Marvel movies really should've made him a top-five pick in this week's draft. As a die-hard Marvel Comics fan, I knew he was truly The Guy when I saw this tweet:

Even Sam Vecenie of The Athletic's draft guide included a blurb that Maxey has "an encyclopedic knowledge of the Marvel Cinematic Universe."

Checking out his Instagram, it confirmed what I already should've known: Maxey has a feel for fall fashion sensibilities and a true passion for the House of Ideas:

It's a shame Maxey wasn't in Philly last year for the unveiling of the Marvel: Universe of Superheroes exhibition at the Franklin Institute (wait, does that count as art and culture? Asking for a friend ...). We need to get Maxey to the Brave New Worlds comic book store in Old City pronto!

Maxey even went full pop culture blog mode and compared a ton of his Kentucky teammates to members of the Avengers in an interview with the Courier-Journal before the beginning of this past college basketball season. The best choice, undoubtedly, was Samuel L. Jackson's S.H.I.E.L.D. Director Nick Fury as John Calipari.

"He’s definitely Nick Fury," Maxey said. "But a lot more – a little bit more yelling."

We've seen NBA studs become movie stars over the years, from Shaquille O'Neal to Michael Jordan to Ray Allen to Kevin Garnett and, soon, LeBron James. If the folks at Disney and Sony are smart, they should be locking up Maxey for a four-picture deal:

The best part of Maxey's Marvel fandom though? He was smart enough not to spoil the end of Avengers: Endgame, unlike former Eagles running back LeSean McCoy.

UPDATE:

Maxey chimed in on Twitter to list his top-three MCU movies:

We got a winner on our hands.

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