Guessing where each Dallas Mavericks player sides on the Barbenheimer front

We’ve reached the Dead Zone of the NBA offseason. The draft is long in the rearview mirror, most relevant free agents have signed with teams, and pending trade requests from Damian Lillard and James Harden have paralyzed the trade market. Everyone has a lot more time on their hands right now, including NBA players. And what better way to pass that time than popping into your local movie theater for some cinema?

As you may have heard, Friday marks the wide release of two of the most hotly anticipated films of the year: Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer and Greta Gerwig’s Barbie. The diametric nature of each films’ subject matter and shared release date have inspired the meme-fueled internet phenomenon of “Barbenheimer,” a concept which has seen the two works pitted against each other in competition and packaged together as a potential double feature. With Barbenheimer Fever sweeping the nation, I had to wonder: where would the Dallas Mavericks’ players stand on this issue? Which film would they buy a ticket to? After doing some critical research, I believe I’ve arrived at the correct answers for each of our guys.

Seth Curry

Curry is known for being an elite three-point bomber. It stands to reason that Oppenheimer’s subject matter would be appealing to him. This one seems like chalk, but I think Seth will be steadfastly Team Nolan here.

Luka Doncic

Luka will not see either of these films. Originally, I hypothesized that he hasn’t been to an American movie theater since coming to Dallas. But after doing some digging, I found this report from Brad Townsend which reveals that Luka has both A. seen Uncut Gems and B. rented out an entire theater for the team to see the most recent Bad Boys film. So maybe I’ve got it wrong and Luka is a huge cinephile after all!

Dante Exum

“Dante Exum” definitely sounds like the name of a hotshot scientist recruited to work on the bomb. “Exum” also sounds like an anagram of IMAX so you better believe the Australian will be front and center opening night for Oppenheimer.

Josh Green

Mavericks television broadcaster Mark Followill often refers to Josh Green as “Mr. Electricity” because of the energy he brings to the court each and every night. While that electricity and energy could be taken literally and applied to the components of an atomic bomb, I’m actually going to go the other way with this one. Green fits right into the bright, upbeat world of Barbie and I can see him vibing along with Ryan Gosling and the rest of the Kens.

Tim Hardaway Jr.

This is my first “double feature” enjoyer on the team. Like Curry, you have the obvious appeal of Oppenheimer to a bomber like Timmy. But, you also have the pretty boy in him that won’t be able to resist the well dressed and finely groomed allure of Barbie. Hardaway will be there for both no matter what.

Jaden Hardy

Hardy will not be at either one of these movies because he lives in the gym and will spend that time getting shots up instead.

Richaun Holmes

The most obvious call on the list for me. Holmes, a certified cinephile, will be at both movies on opening night. We’ve seen a treasure trove of film related tweets from Holmes throughout the years, and I’ll be awaiting his reviews for both films with bated breath.

Kyrie Irving

Although Kyrie prefers to stream movies at home on Amazon Prime, I think he’ll be purchasing a ticket to Oppenheimer in the near future. And there’s no doubt that he’ll definitely be cooking up a conspiracy that none of us can even conceive of yet.

Maxi Kleber

It’s Barbie. I mean, come on. Have you seen this man? He’s the Ken blueprint. You could toss Maxi Kleber into the cast of this movie as “Tall Ken” and nobody would bat an eye.

A.J. Lawson

This one is hard to get a read on. I feel like there’s a ton about Lawson that we just don’t know. He’s kind of cloaked in mystery. One thing we do know about him is that he’s from Canada. You know who else is from Canada? Ryan Gosling. One ticket for Barbie, please.

Dereck Lively II

Lively and I have already talked shop about cinema, bonding over our mutual love of the Jurassic Park movies. So, knowing that Lively is a huge fan of blockbuster spectacle, it’s hard for me to envision him passing up the chance to see either of these films. I’m not sure if he’ll be double featuring them, but he’ll definitely be seated for both.

JaVale McGee

You could argue that inventing the atomic bomb is the biggest mistake mankind has ever made. The McGee signing was the same thing for the Dallas Mavericks, so this is another easy one.

Mike Miles Jr.

As we saw in Summer League, Mike Miles Jr. isn’t here to pass the ball. He’s here to get to the bucket. Miles loves to drive the basketball, and there are a ton of scenes in the trailers for Barbie that feature Margot Robbie driving a car. Miles also went to TCU, and purple is pink adjacent so I think he’s a Barbie guy.

Dwight Powell

Like his good friend Maxi, Dwight also exudes Kenergy. Powell is consistently one of the best dressed Mavericks and like A.J. Lawson, hails from the same motherland as Ryan Gosling. Powell, Kleber, and Green will definitely be squadding up to see Barbie as soon as possible.

Olivier-Maxence Prosper

O-Max was recently photographed wearing a Back to the Future shirt, outing him as a film lover. The rookie plays with a reckless abandon on the court, qualities that the Oppenheimer scientists had when they were cooking up the bomb. On the other side of the coin, O-Max also has a youthful exuberance that fits right into the Barbie universe. He’s definitely another double feature candidate.

Grant Williams

Williams once gave an entire postgame interview dressed as Batman. Christopher Nolan directed three Batman movies. You combine that with the extremely muted color palette Williams was rocking when he officially signed with the team and it’s clear that he’ll be taking his talents to Oppenheimer.