FFormer NBA champion Jim Chones, who won a ring with the Showtime Lakers in 1980, believes the relationship between fans and players has changed since his time. In decades past, the NBA was purely a sports league, one that provided entertainment for those sitting in the seats or watching on television. But now, he says, it’s a very “social network.”
“This fan is different,” Chones tells The Guardian. “If you base what a fan is on traditional values, issues and character, you’re missing the boat.”
These days, Chones says, fans have access to just about anything they want. Smartphones allow fans to stream multiple games, surf the web, gamble, chat with friends, work or even watch a movie while attending a game. With this fragmented attention, Chones believes the NBA must respond to what fans want or risk falling behind. Yes, we have now entered the era of fan empowerment.
“It becomes an issue of accessibility,” said Chones, who played in the pros for 10 years. “It becomes a matter of ‘This is what I want and if you can’t provide it, I have other choices.'”
Fans have more influence than ever, he says. But that change is not always positive. While social norms have changed since the harsher (read: more racist) mid-20th century, there remains a tendency among fans to treat players more and more like objects and less like people. To give just one example, during an NBA game earlier this year, a white fan called Russell Westbrook repeatedly ‘boy’ (it wasn’t the first time the guard had also heard the slur from the fans). Of course, these stories have unfortunately long been part of a league in which most players are black and most fans are white. It happened back in the 1960s, when Bill Russell had his bedroom smeared with feces or later when Kareem Abdul-Jabbar heard it mean and demeaning comments or when Vernon Maxwell punched a fan for talking about his wife’s miscarriage. So access isn’t always a good thing – and social media now means fans can hurl scorn and insults at players off the pitch 24 hours a day.
Nevertheless, the NBA is being pushed to offer more of it. This has led to all kinds of entertainment and theme nights in arenas. If you ask Golden State Warriors coach Steve KerrArenas can also create an overly disruptive nightclub atmosphere, something Chones’ former employer, Jerry Buss, famously started in the 1980s with the Fantastic forum and Playboy-esque Forum Club. “It’s like a South Beach club out there. What are we doing?” Kerr complained after a game in November. “I couldn’t hear anything out there. It’s just the whole game, it’s just pounding techno club music. Can we still just have a basketball game?
Chones says he understands Kerr’s concerns, but adds, “I like Steve, but Steve is pretty narrow…The NBA is more than a basketball league. It’s a social network – it drives conversation, culture, fashion and mental health. We’re pushing all that through the NBA. So you get a different kind of fan. It is more than profit and loss.”
However, aside from attempts at entertainment, there are many instances where fans can feel like they’re making too much (which is something Steve Balmer’s new hypergaming-focused Los Angeles Clippers Arena does). tries to combat). That is the moment when an ugly side of justice comes into play.
“I think there are some cities that, in some players’ minds, might be a little bit worse than others,” says longtime NBA broadcaster Kevin Calabro judiciously. “I know when we had an intense rivalry in Seattle, there were a number of cities we went to and the fans could definitely get the attention of some of the players. But as long as you don’t get personal and don’t use foul language, fans should be able to enjoy themselves.”
But sometimes fans get too personal or demand too much. “Fans have and will continue to cross the line,” says Boston Celtics legend Robert Parish. “Taking too many liberties. We as humans need to realize that your words and actions have consequences. [And] alcohol does not help the discipline and behavior of the fans [either].”
While many are great overallsome fans were also rabid, especially those in Boston and Los Angeles during the Heated rivalry between Lakers and Celtics from the eighties. More recently, there have been events that have gone too far. Although some encounters with fans were just annoying or rude, like when these fans told it Dallas star Luka Dončić to use a treadmill (and he got them thrown out), or as fans berated Suns star Kevin Durant as if he were a robot and not human, or when others booed him Oklahoma City ruthless, there are times when it gets worse. In another instance, Westbrook almost got into a fight with angry fans in Utah, say to the hecklers, ‘I will destroy you. You and your wife.” And just a few weeks ago, he became involved with a Charlotte fan who called him “Westbrick.” Chris Paul’s family was also verbally abused by fans in the stands during a recent playoff game. which caused Paul to tweet, “I want to fine players for saying things to the fans, but the fans can take control of our families… fuck that!!” And Kyrie Irving, who has had a lot of friction with fans due to his political views and his relationship with the cities he has played in over the years, famously gives double bird greetings for Boston ticket holders not long ago during a wave of “Kyrie sucks” chants.
“Kyrie and Russell’s actions were justified,” Parish notes, “because fans make it personal when family members are spoken negatively about. We as humans need to behave better. But that’s wishful thinking.”
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Four-time NBA All-Star Michael Ray Richardson, who played in the league for eight years before playing in Europe for nearly two decades, says fan behavior that goes too far isn’t just limited to the United States. And sometimes it’s even worse abroad.
“I remember Greece in Europe being one of the worst places in the world I ever played. I remember we called a timeout and someone threw a firecracker in the middle of our group. They threw soda cans. When you are in Greece it is a mess. That’s not really the case in the US. You can get fans who can be really rude after they’ve had three or four drinks, but otherwise it’s not too bad.”
For Richardson, playing and coaching in hostile environments was nothing new. And he believes fans are saying things from the safety of the stands that they wouldn’t say in person.
“I think if they’re cursing or making racist comments or if they’re throwing things into the stands and stuff, that’s a little bit too much,” Richardson said. “I think the use of racist comments or personal matters goes too far. Because fans can come and say one thing to you when you’re on the basketball court. But standing outside the court, I guarantee they wouldn’t say something like that.
Today with bets are becoming more and more Of a priority in the game can be friction between players and fans increased even more than in the past. What the future of this relationship will be is anyone’s guess. But, as Chones says, the fans are more in the driver’s seat than ever – even in the extremely popular NBA. Time will tell whether that is a good thing.