What is a real "fan"?

[Rip32]

I don't really know what to think of the word fan. I mean, I know what it means, but what is an NBA fan today? There has always been the diehards who have been with their team for 20-30 years, but what about this generation?

If you were to rank the most popular teams the list would probably consist of Lakers, Celtics, Cavs etc etc. Lakers and Celtics are obvious, they have history and great players plus they are in two very large markets. I just wonder about other teams. I am NOT calling out a team's fans or anything, but for example, is a Cleveland Cavaliers fan really a legit fan?

It just seems odd to me that teams like the Cavs, which were about as popular as the Memphis Grizzlies back in 2002-03, are now one of the top five most valuable franchises in the NBA. It's is obvious that LeBron James is the reason they reached the top of the league (value wise) but if/when LeBron leaves after this year, do those new fans leave too?

Maybe it's because I'm fan of a team that plays in a city that looks more like a war-zone than a metropolis, but do you think there are more NBA fans of respective teams or the individual players?

[The X]

I think for people who live outside the US, people become fans for various reasons:

1. Their countrymen play for that team (e.g. Bogut - Bucks);
2. Their favourite player plays for that team (e.g. MJ - Bulls) & then even after that play is gone or retired, the person continues to follow that team individual players;
3. They are entertained by a team's style of play (e.g. 7 second or less Suns);
4. They simply like following the latest "it" player (e.g. MJ, Penny Hardaway, Kobe, LBJ etc); or
5. Some other sentimental reason from when they were younger (e.g. got given a Miami Dolphins jersey as a kid).

I live overseas so I've found it hard (& annoying) to follow any specific team. Whereas if you live in the States, then most of you will have undeniable geographical ties to a team. Here that just isn't the case.

I find myself liking younger teams with potential (i.e. Blazers from last year or two), team with countrymen (i.e. Bogut & Bucks) & teams with playing styles I like (i.e. Suns or in early part of decade the Kings).

I wish I was a real fan of one team but unfortunately, am just not. Same goes for college basketball teams

[3PK]

I agree completely with The X, in Australia, a person follows a team because of all of the above. Seldom, if ever will you find a 'real fan' in Australia. They have very limited coverage and look for the stars, the glitz and glamour, the novelty of the LA lakers or the 'it' players - Kobe Bryant and LeBron James. What constitutes a real fan is dependent on person opinion, however, I find its one's knowledge, passion and dedication to both their team and the game of basketball, in its purest form. I myself who follow the pistons every game, every off-season move and every step, don't feel as though I'm a 'real fan'. Heck, I jumped on the Joe D and Jerry Stackhouse bandwagon, when i knew little about the NBA. But the reality is I love the pistons and just don't have adequate access to them. The internet and Newspapers are something of that access but only able to watch a few games a year is just not enough. Is it possible for someone in Australia to be a real fan? Realistically, I will never see a Pistons player of my era run a basketball court for 48 minutes.

Furthermore, regarding college basketball, I follow the prospects not a team so in that regard I find I am far from a real fan. I hop on whichever team I like in the final four and away we go.

NB: Do you have to follow one specific team to be a 'real fan', because that is seen as pivotal in deciding whether you are a real AFL (Australia Rules Football) fan.

[Al Ka Pwn]

Someone who knows and appreciates the game, but doesn't obsess about it.

[Lamrock]

I've bandwagoned my fair share of teams... 2002 Kings, 2004 Pistons, 2005-2007 Suns, etc., but because I grew up in Oregon and the Blazers were better than the Sonics when I first got into the NBA, Portland will always be the only team I consider myself a true fan of. At the same time, I root for teams over others. I could care less about the Nuggets, but I would prefer to see them win the title over the Lakers (my least favorite team, followed by the Spurs and Heat - sadly, my 3 least favorite teams have won 8 of 10 titles this decade).

To answer your question, I'd say the casual fan roots for guys like LeBron and Kobe, but bigger fans (like those who go on message boards to discuss the NBA) are likely team fans. I'm a fan of non-Blazers (I even like Pau Gasol), but in the end, my support goes to Portland.

[air gordon]

so are you suggesting one is a bigger fan because one can post on message boards while i'at work? personally i think it's more an issue of killing time/being unproductive at work hehe

i don't know what a real or true fan is. i live in chicago and i'm a bulls fan. for the first time i'm seriously considering giving up on this team because of ownership/management. maybe cuz i'm married, have a mortagae, , the state of the economy, my free time is limited... or got spoiled from the 6 championships... i don't want to give my time & money to a team who's owner only cares about profits/the management is incompetent. screw that

[Oznogrd]

I
To answer your question, I'd say the casual fan roots for guys like LeBron and Kobe, but bigger fans (like those who go on message boards to discuss the NBA) are likely team fans. I'm a fan of non-Blazers (I even like Pau Gasol), but in the end, my support goes to Portland.

I've gotta disagree. I used to be a charlotte hornets guy for the reasons given by others in this (given gifts that were hornets stuff and geographical ties). Then they up and left to New Orleans, they didnt feel like my team anymore. Neither do the Bobcats. so at this point: I'm a fan of players. Some I went to college with (Deron Williams), some i just like how they play (Steve Nash), others i like from their parts on what you called "bandwagon teams" (Mike bibby/Rip Hamilton), some from performances i've seen (lebrons ridiculous playoff finish against the pistons that year). I dont live and die by my players: if they start pissing me off by doing stupid shit i'll stop liking them (we're talkin bout practice man). Some guys (at least in wheelchair ball) I like seeing do well because they aren't elitist pricks in my experiences with them (Matt Scott from the nike commercials). I dont feel any of this makes me more of a fan or less of a fan. I love the game of basketball and have beliefs of a way that is intelligent/smart play and appreciate it when i see it. There are teams i dislike, but i truly cant say i pull for any one team. Yet i still post here. go figure.

[NovU]

True that.

Fans of certain player aren't really lessor of real fans as long as there is passion and love for the game of basketball. You can't really generalize the term real "fan" since they come in many different forms.

But there definitely are casual bandwagon fans. Like you can obviously tell there are many LAL fans who are just mere Kobe fans and doesn't really know how the game is played. I'd compare those to cheerleaders in sports. Anyways, people in this forum are pretty much hardcore I'd say, going distance to share the love of the game by sharing opinions, insights, and ideas.

[Rip32]

i live in chicago and i'm a bulls fan. for the first time i'm seriously considering giving up on this team because of ownership/management. maybe cuz i'm married, have a mortagae, , the state of the economy, my free time is limited... or got spoiled from the 6 championships... i don't want to give my time & money to a team who's owner only cares about profits/the management is incompetent. screw that

I'm a Detroit Lions fan, I feel your pain. Those situations sucks lol and the Lions' is 1000000x worse.

Fans of certain player aren't really lessor of real fans as long as there is passion and love for the game of basketball. You can't really generalize the term real "fan" since they come in many different forms.

Exactly, my thinking would be, "If LeBron does not play for the Cleveland Cavs, are you still referring to that team as 'us' and 'we' ?" Probably not.

But there definitely are casual bandwagon fans. Like you can obviously tell there are many LAL fans who are just mere Kobe fans and doesn't really know how the game is played. I'd compare those to cheerleaders in sports. Anyways, people in this forum are pretty much hardcore I'd say, going distance to share the love of the game by sharing opinions, insights, and ideas.

Exactly, that's why it is actually possible to have a discussion on here. There's another board I take a peek at sometimes and I'm pretty sure there are still topics from xmas day saying "LeBron iz teh best" and "Lakers=Fakers".

I live overseas so I've found it hard (& annoying) to follow any specific team. Whereas if you live in the States, then most of you will have undeniable geographical ties to a team. Here that just isn't the case. I wish I was a real fan of one team but unfortunately, am just not. Same goes for college basketball teams

I can see that. I liked that up until this year, the only Bucks fans I knew of were the Aussies on this board . That's good though, I root for every Michigan State guy in the NBA (albeit there are only a few who actually still play lol). I don't think I'd be as big a Pistons fan if I didn't live in Michigan. You see the team on TV, hear it on the radio, and read about them in the newspapers, so as long as you don't hate the team, you're going to find yourself rooting for them.

[Andrew]

Good topic.

I think that first of all, you've got fans of basketball who love the sport, plain and simple. They're passionate about watching the game (and probably playing it too, their own skill level not withstanding) and they keep up with the news, scores and results from professional and amateur leagues alike to varying degrees. Not everyone is a fountain of knowledge but they'll at least know the basics of basketball. For some, basketball may be one of many sports they enjoy but the more hardcore/enthusiastic basketball fans may only watch basketball or at least place it atop the list of sports they like. A real basketball fan simply loves the game of basketball; loves watching it, loves reading about it, loves talking about it.

Then you've got people who like a particular team and/or specific players on top of that. The reasons for being a devotee of a particular team or player(s) varies from geographical location to the first game you watched to yes, media hype and existing popularity (or alternatively, latching on to the underdog). Such fans can at their core simply be huge basketball fans as well but they stick by a team through thick or thin. Fan loyalty has its limits though and certain actions by a player or team could ultimately lose the allegiance of even the most diehard fan. A team moving cities, some sort of huge public scandal or simple player movement and bad decision making would be examples of things that test the patience - and loyalty - of a diehard fan of a team or player.

After that you've got various subgroups with plenty of overlap such as fans who do love basketball but can only really take an interest in watching it when their favourite team is playing, are homers for their team, are dedicated to their team but can enjoy watching other teams and players play, etc. I think it's fair to call such fans "real", though they have different and conflicting ideals and approaches to their fanaticism.

As far as people being fans of players or teams, I think there's examples of both within the fanbase but given the amount of times you see fans turn on a player when he's traded, downplay his contribution to the team and boo him upon his return - regardless of what the circumstances may actually be - I think the allegiance to teams is still very strong and while some fans may still follow a player and want to see him succeed when he's wearing a different uniform, it takes drastic circumstances to shift that allegiance away from the team they've adopted as their own.

As for the opposite camp, which I suppose would be the "fake" fans, those would be the bandwagoners who switch allegiance frequently while claiming to be diehard fans of whatever team they like that year/month/week/day/minute, though they're probably still true fans of the sport itself. Then you've got the fair weather fans who will support their team as much as the diehards...so long as they're winning, otherwise they're noticeably quiet. Then you've got the two groups that appear in pretty much every fandom: the people who like the sport or a particular team/player simply because it's trendy and stop being fans the minute it ends, along with their polar opposites the people who only like something while it's rare/against the trend to do so and then stop as soon as it gets popular (think of people who like a certain band or artist while they're a relatively unknown then claim they sold out/suck now that everyone likes them) because they're really fans of being fans of something that's different, more than they're ever fans of whatever it is they claimed to be fans of...if you can follow that.

And somewhere in between you've got the casual fans who have an appreciation for the sport and possibly a team or player(s) as well but never claim to be anything more. They often get lumped in with the bandwagoners though as they usually swell the ranks of the fanbase during the good times and to be fair with some casual fans there probably is a bit of overlap with the bandwagoners.

So, what makes a real basketball fan? Passion and keen interest in the sport that is practically unwavering, a devotion to teams and players being optional. A real fan of any given player or team similarly shows practically unwavering support to their chosen team/player(s) through the good times and bad, not jumping off the bandwagon no matter how they came to be on it in the first place unless a certain line is crossed. I'd also make the distinction that supporting a team or player does not necessarily constitute agreeing with every move/decision they make or believing they are the best when they clearly aren't, but supporting and cheering for them all the same.

[Lamrock]

Jesus, you hit the nail on the head there Andrew.

[The X]

Topic closed

[shadowgrin]

Andrew.

[Hedonist]

Hahaha probabaly I should be a Bucks fan too because of all their Dutchies