http://www.forbes.com/sites/christinasettimi/2015/01/21/the-nbas-best-fans/
The Miami Heat fans took the top spot to little surprise, although with a tad bit of initial disgust. But then we looked at the team’s numbers pre-LeBron and realized there was no need to jump on the Heat-hater bandwagon. Fact is the team has ranked in the top 5 in the league in attendance and/or filled their arena to capacity since the 2004-05 season. Thanks to Shaquille O’Neal, Dwyane Wade and LeBron’s 4-year train stop, the team has had a player among those with the best selling jersey and/or the team’s merchandise has ranked among the league’s best-selling since 2004. The team ranks 3rd in the league in terms of its social media sheer volume of fans and its following as a percent of its population, a number that shows its reach extends beyond Miami-Dade County. To boot, LeBron’s exit didn’t lead to a mass exodus of fans. The Heat are still playing to a full capacity crowd and its merchandise remains among the top-selling in the league. There is enough momentum that the team signed an extension with Fox’s Sun Sports this past November that pays triple the current rights fee and keeps them on the network through the 2024/25 season.
Top 10 Best NBA Fans:
1. Miami Heat
2. Oklahoma City Thunder
3. San Antonio Spurs
4. Chicago Bulls
5. Los Angeles Lakers
6. Boston Celtics
7. (tie) Dallas Mavericks
7. (tie) Indiana Pacers
9. Portland Trail Blazers
10. Los Angeles Clippers
Yeah. There's a big bag of something around here for the haters to eat. Let the downplaying begin. Agree or not, she at least put some thought into this, unlike the countless douchebag trolls just having a laugh. Plus, she's even a little put off by the idea, but concedes to the facts. I can't wait to read the lazy efforts to discredit it.
This is like the Wizards' commentator claiming we pump crowd noise through speakers, and everyone had a laugh. Then they learned that we never pump crowd noise in, and that the AAA just gets crazy loud at times, and no one said a peep or retracted their comments. Teams have commented before that our arena is a hard place to play in the playoffs because our crowds are really loud and wild. I mean, we too trill sometimes. LOL. I'm just glad someone is giving us some recognition.
