NBA Power Rankings: Which Teams Have the Most Delusional NBA Fanbases?

Every NBA fan is at least a little bit delusional, or at least by definition, fanatical about his or her team. But the fans of these teams take it to an extreme. 

It's one thing to root for your team at all costs and hope that they're going to pull out a victory or championship. It's another thing entirely to blindly convince yourself that they're going to dominate no matter what and then attempt to convince the rest of the world that you're right. 

Fanbases can become delusional if there are sudden changes associated with their team or if they're used to winning and that stops for whatever reason. They refuse to allow reality to set in. 

Let's take a look at the best of the bunch in the NBA when it comes to deluding themselves. 

6. New Jersey Nets

New Jersey Nets fans actually managed to convince themselves that their current pursuit could trump the futility of recent memory and bring Dwight Howard to Brooklyn. 

When Mikhail Prokhorov was put in charge of the team, optimism reigned supreme, but that optimism hasn't come to fruition and it doesn't look like it will for quite some time. 

Without D12 holding down the paint for the Nets, a mass exodus from the team could soon take place. Does anybody outside of the New Jersey and Brooklyn areas really think that Deron Williams and Gerald Wallace are going to stay with this franchise that is doomed to mediocrity?

5. Los Angeles Clippers

The Los Angeles Clippers' inclusion here needs to be taken with a grain of salt. The excitement of their fans is perfectly understandable now that the team is finally relevant after struggling for so long. 

That said, Clippers fans are taking it to the extreme right now. When Chris Paul was traded to Los Angeles for the second time and ended up playing alongside Blake Griffin, they were completely convinced that their team was ready to win a title. 

They overlooked the whole chemistry part of the equation, a part that the Miami Heat proved was kind of important last year. Playing together for more than just a few practices actually tends to help things run smoothly on the court. 

As is the case with the next few teams, they also overrate their star player—in this case Griffin. 

Griffin is one of the best young talents in the league, capable of dominating a game statistically and highlightically (that made-up word can really only apply to the Blake show). But he's not the best power forward in the game and he still has a lot of improving to do. 

4. Boston Celtics

In terms of historical franchise rankings, the Boston Celtics could either be 1A or 1B, depending on personal preference. 

That dominance throughout the decades that have come and gone have given C's fans a sense of entitlement. Even if they aren't going to contend for an NBA title, they're still firmly convinced that everything will break their way and they will end up taking home the trophy after the final game of the season. 

Plus, don't even get me started on Rajon Rondo. He's a great point guard, but talk to Celtics fans too often and you'll come away with the impression that he's one of the best of all time. 

3. Los Angeles Lakers

If you think that the Boston Celtics are 1A in the historical franchise rankings, that would leave the Los Angeles Lakers as 1B. If the Celtics are 1B in your mind, then the Lakers have to jump to the top. 

That means that the same argument I made for the Celtics also holds true for the Lakers. The historical dominance has led to the feeling that purple and gold always needs to be present during the NBA finals. 

Lakers fans, at least the ones that show up to games, have a reputation for being celebrities more interested in making appearances than actually cheering for games. While there's some truth to that, I hesitate to generalize that statement to the entire fanbase. 

That said, the undying support of Kobe Bryant is what pushes them ahead of the Celtics and the team they share the Staples Center with. 

There are quite a few Lakers fans out there who think that Kobe can do no wrong.

They defend his poor shooting nights and glorify his top-notch performances, constantly proclaiming that he's a top-five player of all time. He may very well end up that high in the historical player rankings, but at least acknowledging his shortcomings once in a while would be nice. 

I published an article yesterday about the biggest temper tantrums in NBA history and Kobe appeared on it, qualified by a statement that read, "I'm in no way trying to disrespect the greatness of Kobe's career..."

A commenter who goes by the name of britton o'neil responded with a brilliant yet simple reply that sums up exactly what the problem with the Kobe lovers is: "Its kinda sad that when anyone, even an author, says something negative about Kobe they must follow it with: "I'm not trying to disrespect Kobe," or something like that just because if you don't you will get ripped apart by Laker fans lol."

Britton nailed it. 

2. New York Knicks

The New York Knicks have some of the most passionate fans in the league, or at least it seems that way because the team plays in the massive media hype machine known as the city that never sleeps. 

Jeremy Lin is the perfect example of the delusional abilities of New York fans. When he came out of nowhere, he became the biggest story in the NBA and the New York fans were convinced that he was the second coming. 

Lin played incredibly enough to rank fifth among all point guards according to a metric I created, but the Knicks hyped him up to be even better, which is hard to believe. 

The real reason that the Knicks come in at No. 2 though is the prominence of the team. Even though they haven't been to the NBA Finals since before Y2K, even though they haven't won a title since 1973, even though they've only made the playoffs twice in the last decade, they're still always relevant because their fans want them to be. 

1. Bandwagon Fans

I don't care if this is a cop-out at No. 1. It's too true for me to leave out. 

There are no more delusional fans than the ones who have hopped onto the bandwagon. They may not be too delusional about how good their teams are (maybe a little), but they are delusional about their fandom. 

If you only started rooting for the Los Angeles Clippers when Chris Paul and Blake Griffin teamed up, if you only started rooting for the Miami Heat after The Decision, if you became a New York Knicks fan after the emergence of Jeremy Lin, you qualify.