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?”

Louis Keene is a reporter for the Forward. His work has also been published in The New York Times, New York magazine and Vice. He is based in Los Angeles.

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