Dallas ‘Maus’? Or are the NBA Finals making you see things?
No, the NBA is not taking on banned books
Luka Doncic #77 of the Dallas Mavericks reacts during the second quarter against the Minnesota Timberwolves in Game Four of the Western Conference Finals at American Airlines Center May 28 in Dallas, Texas. Photo by Tim Heitman/Getty Images
By Louis Keene June 5, 2024
You stare at a word long enough and it starts to dissipate. You stare at an NBA jersey long enough and the team name starts to … recall a graphic novel about the Holocaust?
The Dallas Mavericks have apparently been in the NBA playoffs long enough — they’re in the NBA Finals, which begin Thursday — that people are starting to notice that their jerseys seem to say not “Mavs,” rendered in all caps, but Maus, the title of Art Spiegelman’s 1986 bestseller.
“I feel like the Dallas Mavericks are actually promoting Art Spiegelman’s MAUS throughout these playoffs, which I really appreciate,” the author Gin Phillips posted May 22 on Threads.
Another wondered: Is the NBA campaigning against banned books?
Y’all I just looked at these Dallas jerseys and said to myself “oh the NBA is taking on banned books interesting can’t believe I haven’t read about that campaign” then asked aloud “Why do their jerseys say ‘Maus’” pic.twitter.com/mFAkjBrmYU
— Laura D. Testino 〽️ (@ldtestino) January 13, 2023
Not all reviews have been positive: One user on X posted in April 2022, “Literally thought the Dallas Mavs staff was sportin ‘MAUS’ warmups as a confusing homage to the controversial Holocaust graphic novel…”
When Forward opinion editor and Denver Nuggets correspondent, Talya Zax, pointed out the resemblance to me, I wondered why I hadn’t noticed it sooner. The reason was simple: The Nike-designed jerseys are alternates that have only been in use since the 2020-21 season. (Their standard blue-and-white uniforms, which date back more than two decades, say DALLAS in the same font.)
I’ve also, for more than a year now, been avoiding watching the Mavericks, as they employ a player notorious for sharing a movie in 2022 that denied the Holocaust. I don’t think it’s ironic or fitting that Kyrie Irving is now wearing the Maus jersey when he suits up, because the jerseys don’t actually say Maus on them. I do think Kyrie Irving should read Maus, but I won’t get my hopes up.
Having said that, I cold-called Spiegelman to see what he thought. This required first explaining to him what I was talking about, because the Pulitzer Prize winner is not watching the Mavs either. Or any other team for that matter. Or sport. And not just this year.
“That’s funny,” he said. “I haven’t seen it, but I have no thoughts about sports at all. I couldn’t recite back to you what sports you were talking about. It’s anathema to me.”
He added, “Is there another team with cats playing?”
This is a moment of great uncertainty. Here’s what you can do about it.
We hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, we’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s independent Jewish news this Passover. All donations are being matched by the Forward Board - up to $100,000.
This is a moment of great uncertainty for the news media, for the Jewish people, and for our sacred democracy. It is a time of confusion and declining trust in public institutions. An era in which we need humans to report facts, conduct investigations that hold power to account, tell stories that matter and share honest discourse on all that divides us.
With no paywall or subscriptions, the Forward is entirely supported by readers like you. Every dollar you give this Passover is invested in the future of the Forward — and telling the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
The Forward doesn’t rely on funding from institutions like governments or your local Jewish federation. There are thousands of readers like you who give us $18 or $36 or $100 each month or year.
Support our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
