Worst Quality of Each NBA Team's Fanbase

If there's one thing that people dedicated to their favorite team, whether it be in the NBA, or any other sport out there, is to point out how superior their team's fans are compared to other team's fans.

Celtics and Lakers fans are always sniping at each other from across the country and have been doing so since before Biggie and Tupac made it cool.

Knicks fans hate any other fans that make their team look silly, and have an insatiable dislike for Miami Heat fans.

Cleveland fans had it in with Detroit and Washington fans for a while over the past decade and everybody jumps on everyone else for their bandwagon fans.

Now, let me get this out there right off the bat, every team has bandwagon fans and every team has crazy die-hard fans, it's inevitable.  Some have more than others, but every team is guilty of having bandwagon riders in their midst.

So besides everyone having bandwagon fans, what are the worst qualities of fans from each basketball team?  Well it's a good thing you found me if you've been asking yourself that question, because I've got answers for you.

Atlanta Hawks: No-Weather Fans

There are plenty of die-hards in Atlanta to cheer their team on and make plenty of noise during most games, and their fans always show up during the postseason, but no matter how the team is doing in the regular season, they just can't seem to fill their seats.

In fact, since 2008, the start of their current run of making the playoffs, the Hawks haven't been higher than 19th in the league in percentage of seats filled in their home arena.

If you're not going to support a winning team, then who are you guys going to support?

Boston Celtics: Superiority

This is a quality shared and exhibited most by the Celtics, Lakers, Bulls and Knicks fans.  There are some of those out there who think that just because their team has won multiple titles that they are more deserving and more educated basketball fans than "lesser" teams.

Boston fans are as die-hard as they come, even in the 90s and early 2000s when they weren't very good the bandwagon didn't thin out nearly as much as some of the other teams out there (although it did pretty much overfill in 2008 when Garnett and Allen came along).

I went to a Celtics-Cavs game in Cleveland a few years ago and actually heard some Celtics fans who had come all the way from Boston (I heard that accent, it's unmistakable) and yelling, "Call me when you guys win 17 championships."

Sorry we all couldn't have had Bill Russell and Larry Bird, guys. 

Charlotte Bobcats: Non-Supporters

The first time there was a basketball team in Charlotte, the city supported the idea of bringing an NBA team in, and then when it was actually there, they had a solid group of supporters and then a handful of casual fans.

Funny enough, the same thing seems to have happened on the second go-around in Charlotte.

It makes sense at first, because there are few cities that seem to love basketball more than Charlotte, but in reality, they are more of a college basketball city.

Chicago Bulls: Boozer Booers

I get the anger toward Carlos Boozer.  Hell, I'm still angry at Carlos Boozer for what he did to the Cavs all those years ago (more on that later). But those guys that booed him in the playoffs are way over the line.

The guy dealt with injury problems all season long with very few chances to get fully incorporated into the team, so it's not that surprising that he's struggled in the time that he has played with the team.

Give him another year, if he falls flat again, then go ahead and boo the guy, and I'll be right there with you.

Cleveland Cavaliers: Grudge Holding

Let me get this straight right off the bat, most fans of Cleveland sports teams are insane, and they all hold grudges.

There is nary a soul in Cleveland that wouldn't want to punch Art Modell in the face, few people will ever forgive Ted Stepien for ruining a decade of Cavaliers basketball in just over two years of owning the team, Carlos Boozer is still booed every time he comes to the city because he took advantage of Gordon Gund's kindness, Joakim Noah will always be persona non grata in Cleveland for his comments on their city, and of course there's LeBron James.

I could go on and on.

Now, I'm completely fine with the grudge against LeBron, it's too soon to forgive him, although we probably don't have to be insane about it anymore.

Dallas Mavericks: Painters

There is one thing that I noticed in Dallas' playoff run that I did not like at all.  There were a surprising number of people painted, expressing their love for their team.

People who paint themselves for a professional basketball team always weird me out, it seems like a thing you do in high school, maybe college and then you're done with it.  Hell, even in college you can end up like this kid.

Denver Nuggets: Throwback Jersey Wearers

I hate the Nuggets throwback jerseys.  I absolutely cannot stand their existence.  The only jerseys in the history of the NBA that I like less are the Utah Jazz jerseys covered in mountains from the late '90s.

The worst part about those Nuggets jerseys is that everyone in Denver seems to sport them when I see them on television.

Maybe it's just me, and I know that you guys love Alex English, but I really just can't stand those unis.

Detroit Pistons: Drunkenness

This is an example of a very small group of people ruining the reputation of an entire city that follows a team, but back in 2004 a man threw a cup of beer on Ron Artest and there was no going back.

Artest charged into the stands and there was bedlam in Auburn Hills.

It seems that the only city that tops Detroit in drunkenness in the NBA is Boston. 

Golden State Warriors:

Ever since the 2007 upset of the Dallas Mavericks, the Golden State Warriors have carried themselves with a mentality that nobody believes in their team.  Like they are capable of something and everyone else is going to be stunned when they win.

The only problem is that nobody believes in them because nobody should believe in them.  They have a team that is consisted of an all-offense mentality that hasn't seen them through to the playoffs since 2007.

That's why we don't believe in you guys.

Houston Rockets: Yao Ming Voters

The is one thing that I can't stand when it comes to sports, and that's fans voting for anything.  Fans are the reason that Yao Ming made the All-Star team last season despite not playing a single game.

Chalk this one up to a whole country behind him and voting for him, but it still bothers me that it went down.

Actually, maybe it's more pathetic that Lakers fans didn't give Andrew Bynum enough votes to make him the No. 1 vote-getting center.

Indiana Pacers: Basketball Purists

More than any other fans that I have had some sort of interaction with, Pacers fans seem to be basketball purists.  I've heard on more than one occasion from Pacers fans some version of, "I can't believe how much basketball has changed."

I get it, I do.  Basketball is different now, superstars are treated better than marginal players, traveling is never called and David Stern is a power-hungry madman.

Los Angeles Clippers: Haters of the Bandwagon

The Los Angeles Clippers have probably had the fewest instances in my lifetime where anyone would want to jump on their bandwagon, but when they do, they are probably the most annoying about it.

Having to share a city with the Lakers, the Clippers obviously have a "Little Brother" mentality, and they have a more special connection to their team having been fans since they were blowing draft picks back in the early-90s, compared to these guys who show up now in Blake Griffin jerseys to be seen, like they're at a Lakers game.

Still, teams need bandwagon fans.  Not everyone cares about basketball as much as us crazy folks who will go and see a 17-65 team, and bandwagon fans need to be there to fill the arena, get the team more money and have a desire to be good.

Otherwise, every franchise would operate like the Pittsburgh Pirates. 

Los Angeles Lakers: Unimpressed People

God, this was a hard one to pick.

There are the celebrities to hate, the "scenesters" who only show up because it's hip to go to a Lakers game and be seen with all the celebrities there, there are the terrible human beings that leave early in a competitive game to beat traffic, but in the end it's the people who don't seem to care that anger me the most, because they seem to be all of these things in one.

These are the people that pay hundreds of dollars to sit in the first five rows, get dressed up like they're going out for a night on the town and just sit for three-and-a-half quarters until they realize they should leave so they don't get caught in traffic.

Memphis Grizzlies: People Like Me

I'm sorry to say it, but I caught myself doing something I completely hate a few weeks ago.  I was talking about the Grizzlies like I had been a fan for the entirety of their suffering. 

To clear things up here, I adopted the Grizzlies as my favorite Western Conference team sometime in late December and cheered them on throughout the season.  However, when I was talking to a friend of mine a few weeks ago, I was talking like I had loved them forever.

I sincerely apologize to the real Grizzlies fans, I really like your team, but I must identify myself as a bandwagon jumper here, even if I was one of the early bandwagon jumpers.

Miami Heat: Those Who Need to Be Told to

Really, Heat fans? Really?

You get a team with LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh and you guys need ticket prices to drop and an ad campaign urging the people who go to games to "Fan Up" to get you out of your seats and screaming.

If these three guys were in any other city (and I don't say this because I don't like Miami, it's inherently true) people would jump on the bandwagon so quick and scream their lungs out that you would think The Beatles just arrived from Great Britain and a group of 15-year-old girls are screaming their heads off.

Shame on you, Miami. Shame.

Milwaukee Bucks: Pre-Fear the Deer Milwaukee

This one isn't as bad as Miami, because the Bucks weren't a great team at this point, but back in 2009 when the Bucks were halfway decent and looking to surge into the playoffs, Andrew Bogut had to call out fans to get them to the games.

However much I dislike that Bogut had to do that, I love that he bought tickets for the rowdiest of fans so they could create a more intense atmosphere.  Show the love to the crazy folks and you'll get more of this.

Minnesota Timberwolves: Self-Loathing Fans

I completely blame David Kahn for this one, but every time it seems like something good is going for the Timberwolves, you always seem to hear someone complain that the team will screw it up somehow.

Perfect example with the NBA draft, the Timberwolves got the second pick, but everyone was so sure that they were going to screw it up that it was pretty much surprising when they made what seemed to be the right pick.

Have some faith, guys, even if you are following the worst-run NBA franchise in more than a decade.

New Jersey Nets: Those Quick to Buy Deron Williams Jerseys

Seriously, what are you guys going to do with those Jerseys when he leaves in 10 months?

Sorry to be so presumptuous, but I just can't believe that I saw Deron Williams jerseys in the crowd in the very first game that he played with the Nets in New Jersey.

I mean, what if something happened with Williams like what happened with Rasheed Wallace back when he went from the Blazers to the Hawks, played one game and then got traded to the Pistons?

Actually, that kind of makes me want a Rasheed Wallace Hawks jersey.

New Orleans Hornets: Last-Second Support

The New Orleans Hornets have only topped 90 percent home capacity once since 2008, which is kind of depressing considering they have the best point guard in the league.

However, now that the team is threatening to move, they have started to sell season tickets in droves (well, compared to how they were selling them at least).  What is it that makes people not care about something until it's nearly or completely gone?

I guess it's like PBS.  People like that it's there, even if they aren't necessarily going to go and watch it.

New York Knicks: Entitlement

Knicks fans seem to think they deserve so much. They gave off the feeling that they deserved LeBron James, they deserved Carmelo Anthony, and the fact that any other team was trying to trade for him was near blasphemy, and now they deserve one of either Chris Paul, Deron Williams or Dwight Howard.

There is a sense that because they play in an arena known as the basketball "Mecca" that they should have the best players to fill it.

Oklahoma City Thunder:

When the SuperSonics moved to Oklahoma City I was shocked.  Seattle always seemed to support their team, or at least have a great core of die-hards to make it through the tough times until the bandwagon filled back up, so it was very surprising to see such good basketball fans get dumped all over.

Still, the fact is that it's over and done with.  Instead of continuing to gripe about it, join the rest of your comrades who have started to actively campaign for a basketball team.

Seriously, New Orleans will have lost their team and they'll be on their way to Seattle in the next four or five years.

Orlando Magic: Ignoring the Problem at Hand

Magic fans who go to the games love their team, and they won't hear anything that remotely hints at the idea that their team is about to fall apart.

It's kind of like Joseph Stalin ignoring the warning signs that Hitler was keen to fight him just so he could get as much of Poland as possible before he had to start fighting the Germans.

Philadelphia 76ers: Those Guys Who Continue to Give Philly a Bad Reputation

Northern cities with bad reputations like Cleveland, Detroit and Philadelphia generally have a bond that other cities don't have because people are always bagging on them, that's why I usually feel the need to defend Philly or Detroit, as hard as it is sometimes.

Honestly, there are some insane Philly fans out there from every sport that houses itself inside that city, but at least it's always sunny there.

Phoenix Suns: Blindness

There are a few Suns fans that I know who are very intelligent and interesting people, and there are some on this site that I have a deep respect for their knowledge of the game, and then there are those who couldn't fathom losing Steve Nash.

I see the reasoning for wanting to keep Steve Nash, he is the best thing to happen to Phoenix since, well, I don't know, what happens in Phoenix since Charles Barkley.

However, there are too many Suns fans out there who insist over and over again that trading Nash and starting to rebuild is a bad idea.  It's seriously not, my friends.

Portland Trail Blazers: Ragers

Portland has the best and most dedicated fans in the NBA.  The only thing that got them to abandon their team was the most un-fan-friendly team in NBA history, and even then, they stuck around until they couldn't stand to see Isiah Rider get arrested again.

However, when you say one thing bad about anything that has ever had anything to do with the Blazers, they freak out.  Just try to accept some constructive criticism sometimes, guys, I promise it won't hurt.

Sacramento Kings: Conspiracy Theorists

Even if I believe that the 2002 Western Conference Finals were rigged to get the Lakers-Kings series to a Game 7 (because it completely was) doesn't mean you have to bring it up at every drop of the hat.

We get it, the Kings were completely screwed, they are the biggest victims of the Tim Donaghy scandal, now go donate some money to the Maloofs so your team can stay where it is, because I love watching the Kings when they're good.  You guys go crazy for that team.

San Antonio Spurs: Overreacters

I've got a friend that is a die-hard Spurs fan who seems to exhibit a quality that many Spurs fans out there have.

As soon as the Spurs lost to the Grizzlies in the playoffs this season I got a text that said something along the lines of, "Well, that's it, the Tim Duncan Era is over."  That idea took off like a rocket and still hasn't slowed down, and I'm convinced that it's because some Spurs fans are overreacters.

There are still some people out there with level heads that can totally see the Spurs doing well this season whenever it does start, even if they will be screwed with a hard cap.

Toronto Raptors: Those Quick to Judgment

This is kind of in the same category as the Spurs fans overreacting to a single event happening.  There are plenty of Raptors fans out there who will jump to a conclusion far too quickly on a single player, whether good or bad.

I have heard everything that runs the gamut from Andrea Bargnani being the worst big man in the history of the NBA to DeMar DeRozan shaping up to be the next Kobe.  Find some middle ground guys, it's not that bad...or that good.

Utah Jazz: Jerks

I think Michael Jordan's final shot as a member of the Bulls has stuck with them for far too long and has made some of them cynical jerks.

I hear the most "Kobe rapist" jokes from Jazz fans, no matter how old they get, and then there's the whole deal with Derek Fisher.

Fisher asked to get out of his deal with the Jazz back in 2007 because his daughter had retinoblastoma and he wanted to live near a specialist.  His family settled back in Los Angeles, as his daughter had treatments in New York and L.A, and then he signed with the Lakers.

Then, last year as the Lakers swept the Jazz in the playoffs, fans were booing Fisher, chanting "Fisher sucks," and some even wearing T-shirts that said, "Fisher lied."

That's harsh, guys.

Washington Wizards: Insistence That Michael Jordan's Time There Wasn't a Waste

Nobody will ever convince me that Michael Jordan coming back to play in the NBA was worth anything more than driving up Wizards attendance and showing that he could still be effective at 40.

Still, any time the topic of MJ on the Wizards is brought up it seems like a Wizards fan will inevitably point out that with MJ the Wizards nearly made the playoffs and positively affected the league.

Really they didn't, and it was just a weird time to see the greatest player of all time look strange in blue.

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