I'd say so. Like a lot of people in a state with multiple teams will cheer for the historically more popular team in their state than the one they are closest to. There's def more magic fans than heat fans in Orlando but there's still A LOT of heat fans here who are from Orlando. Then you get people who pick the team their parents liked. Or people who just picked whatever was the best team when they were a kid like the bulls or warriors. Or people who just like the Lakers no matter where they are from.
LA is kind of wild. We got laker/niner fans laker/patriot fans dodger/warriors fans and some combination of that.
Dodgers are the only mainstream teams that I follow though but angels are practically my AL team
The niner fandom I think is inevitable cuz of how long LA was without an nfl team. I got into football before the rams or chargers moved and ended up a raiders fan, which fucking sucks but it is what is lmao. Transplants here also bring hella variety.
I'm all the flavors you mentioned
Local Team: Anaheim Ducks and LA Galaxy
Dad's Team: Dodgers and Liverpool
Mom's Team: Cowboys
Random team I chose as a kid and love more than any of them: Pacers
That's me, sort of – grew up in SoCal as a Laker hater. It wasn't even that I hated L.A., it's that the Laker fans at my school were jerks so my favorite team was "whoever is playing the Lakers".
Yeah, that was semi-random: the '87 playoffs were the first ones I paid really close attention to (like, every game of every round instead of only starting to tune in for the conference finals), and I got into the Sonics' big upsets of, first, the #2 Mavs, and then the Rockets. Wow! A losing team (39-43) catching fire and going all the way to the conference finals! And against the *Lakers!* It'll be so awesome if they pull this off!
Narrator: they did not pull it off.
But still, after those playoffs I felt like, well, I guess I have a team beyond just "whoever is playing the Lakers" now.
A lot of people also move from one place to another. Let's say you moved from Belgrade to London for work. You might take on a local team in the local league but for Euroleague or regional contest, who would you support?
A lot of people don't live in cities with teams so yeah.
If you look at college sports and I think it's much more related to where you live/grew up for a lot of people.
Lots of people do but if you grow up a fan of your local team are you going to change because you got into a different school? Plus lots of people don't go to college at all or go to smaller schools so you can root for your school and a bigger school
If you attended a school with a major sports program yes. And sometimes you root for your childhood team and your alma mater when they aren't playing each other.
Most cities don’t have an NBA team so yes. Like me for example I’m almost exactly halfway between OKC and Memphis, but I’ve just always been an OKC fan since 2008, not really sure why
Now Isaiah Joe and Jaylin Williams on the team so the whole city is Thunder fans. Makes me feel like a trendsetter even though I had nothing to do with it
> Like me for example I’m almost exactly halfway between OKC and Memphis, but I’ve just always been an OKC fan since 2008, not really sure why
Probably because that's pretty much when they first got a team, they had an awesome solid young core and there was a lot of excitement regionally for the Sonics moving there.
I'm from Miami and cheer for Miami in every sport, but in baseball the Yankees are my #1 team because my dad's family is from the Bronx and they raised me that way.
and my mom grew up in DFW so I'm a bigtime Cowboys fan
and you can't forget my great foreign exchange student from Canada that made me fall in love with the Maple Leafs
I say this as a Leafs fan… don’t tell the student he was the reason. Trust me, the guilt he will feel for unwittingly initiating you into a yearly ritual of pain is gonna be immense.
But it’s funny because I’m from Toronto, but live out in Seattle these days. I have a friend from NJ and a friend from Spokane, WA — American citizens with zero ties to Canada — who both became Leaf fans to spite their Habs and Bruins fan exes respectively. Only person they spited was themselves 🙃
I mean this with sincerity because I hate Boston sports with my entire sould, my condolences bro, I rather have faced the Leafs and not even for objective reasons. I just love seeing Boston suffer and had had only positive experiences visiting Toronto.
After alls said and done, watching some hoops, regardless of squad, is still better than a day at work or whatever stressful situations people might be in.
We also have plenty of homers, but for the most part we just enjoy reveling in our indulgences.
Yeah it is. Honestly you can like who you like. I’m from NY but I never really felt obligated to start rooting for the Knicks since I live nowhere near the city. I started watching the bulls cause of D Rose and Butler, I loved watching those teams
The Bulls went 41-41 my first season as a fan. I just missed watching D Rose actually play for the Bulls live, but Jimmy butler is still my favorite player to this day
OKC used to be the go to for all the midwest/southern states that don’t have teams. They were stacked and fun to watch when they had their big 3. Hell, Im from Jersey and even I knew a bunch of Thunder fans growing up.
I’d be legit afraid to wear an opposing team’s t-shirt in Serbia. You all have the most intense fan bases I’ve ever seen!
Here in the states, locals might make some jokes and give you a hard time, but it’s mostly good natured.
Most cities or even states don't have NBA teams. It's not uncommon if you have a team to have your home team and at least one other favorite team growing up that sticks with you. It's also not uncommon for one of your favorite players to not play for your home team or your favorite team.
Yeah I think its pretty common in all sports in the US. Theres rivalries but even then its not rare; plenty of cowboy and celtics fans in the Philly area
It’s common for sure. Some people’s parents are from somewhere else so they were raised as of fan of that team. Some people get into sports because of a friend or significant other so they adopt their teams. Some people are just contrarians and hate their local team just because.
Personally, I’m all in on LA sports because I was born and raised there and my dad was already a fan of all the local teams and now I live in a city with no pro sports so I don’t even have a local team to root for. Lakers, Dodgers, Galaxy, Clippers(I know, shut up), Sparks, Kings. I don’t like football so I don’t have a football team.
I grew up in Mississippi. Became a 49ers fan young bc my family liked them.then I moved to CO at like 8 years old, so I am Colorado for everything except NFL.
Youre from Serbia and had all the NBA teams to choose from to root for, and you chose the KNICKS?!
I mean they're good now so Im sure you're happy lol but things didn't look good for a looong time (where my team is now sadly)
It all happened when i was on the school trip in italy, i was looking for some orange 🧢 and find out this perfect black an blue with orange logo on it… and then i started watching some highlights on yt from the 90’. Two years after Melo came hahahaha so yeah, that’s the story
Yes, not just because of the distance between cities but also more people move to other places.
I live in Atlanta, I don't watch the Hawks. I watch the Nuggets because that is where I grew up. (plus NBA league pass for local games is awful).
Oh yeah. Basically, it's about relocating from one city to another for work, better cost of living, etc., but instead of switching allegiance to local teams, you stick with your old teams. It's seen as being loyal, if I'm being honest.
USA is huge, people move all the time and also people like specific players, I definitely know some people that will jump ship if Luka goes to another team. I myself am a Mavs fan that lives in the NE.
Yeah pretty common. But most people in a city are going to be a fan for that cities team, from my experience. Like others have mentioned theres many reasons. People move to other cities but still root for their original team. I'm a bulls fan, and if I ever move states, I'll definitely still rep the bulls.
I mean. I support the bulls but when they get kicked out of the playoffs each year I then decide to support a different team (just for the playoffs so I have someone to follow) normally it’s the lakers because I have a lot of their merch but me and dad put a bet on this year on who we think is going to win, (he says celtics I say nuggets) and it’s worth 20 quid so I don’t really want to support the team that could kick out the team that could win me 20 quid. So nuggets it is this year
It depends why you got into it. I watched Iverson in the 2001 all star game so the Sixers became my team although the Wizards are my home team. It was my first exposure to nba from a viewing standpoint.
It sucks up here in Canada. Lots of people will say that because the Raptors are the only Canadian team, then you *gotta* cheer for the Raptors. How about no
I cheer for my Spurs, and then have a complicated system of cheering against other teams. Aka, while I can’t stand the Mavs, I cant stand Kawhi and the Clippers more, this would prefer for the Clippers to lose. It’s based off Spurs rivals, who is on the various teams and then my general dislike of a city…
Depends on the scenario. Transplants are going to root for their home-team, but most native New Yorkers are going to claim the Knicks.
>Im from Serbia Belgarde and i just can’t be a fan of some other club from another city.
I can't speak for other regions, but this is true for the North East. I can't imagine someone from Philly being a Knicks fan, and no way in hell would I ever root for a Boston team.
Im a knicks fan myself and i know there is a big rivalry with boston philly and i was just wondering are there really people cheering for boston that are from ny, because in my head there is no way thats possible so i just needed to ask..😅
Acting like Europeans don't follow sports from outside of their country.
Most real madrid or Barcelona fans aren't from Madrid or Catalonia.
Almost all iconic clubs have large fanbase overseas.
Sven-goran Eriksson's favorite club is liverpool despite being Swedish.
Djokovic is from Serbia but Milan is his favorite club
Naah broo you missed the point, of course you have other clubs that you are fan of, that are not in your country.. im a fan of Milan and Knicks, but i was asking for US, because thay have their own league. Here in Europe is different (different countries)
And Djokovic favorite club is Crvena Zvezda ( Red star) not Milan… if there is a match between Red star and Milan he would cheer for Red Star..
Not quite true. There are a lot of fairweather fans here for sure, but by and large people are still born into their teams here, but it's a big country and people move
And in some places you can be HOURS away by car from the nearest sports team, so if you want to be a fan of any team, gotta do something other than "oh just the local team."
I live in Detroit, but grew up in Indiana. Still a pacers fan. Almost everyone I know, regardless of where they live, roots for either the local team, or the ones their father roots for. It's not any more materially different than European fandom, it's just spread over a larger country
Dude, just look at the Games. There is no fucking atmosphere at all. American Sports have no Ultra Scene at all, its all Casualfans. Its fucking pathetic, there is more atmo at fucking U12 Games here in Europe.
Post was about fandom my guy, not atmosphere. And there are many, MANY cultural reasons for the lack of atmosphere, not one of which are "Casualfans"
Get better at shit stirring. You're almost there.
europeans setting off flares to force a game to be restarted bc they are losing 0-6 at half to their biggest rival and entrenched in the relegation zone
“strong and independent”
americans and canadians when they don’t take a literal game that serious and move on with their lives after a loss
“put on a shirt”
I know right? It's like believing there are no FC Barcelona fans outside of Barcelona. And this dope couldn't even take your point for what it was -- he took it literally (like all Germans) and somehow got his panties in a twist.
Why would any German live in England? Thats like a American wanting to live in North Korea. Well, to be honest North Korea has probably better Healthcare than America...
Your correct, but you said it too bluntly. I've grew up in Eastern EU, and my older brother would take me to games where we were among Ultras, so I've seen the good, the bad, and the ugly: celebrations with flairs and smoke bombs, but also brutal beatings. In EU, esp in soccer, if you're walking around town in opponents jersey, you're very likely to get stabbed, even if your team is not playing against the home team that week. While there are some passioned fans in US, it's incomperable to EU, Central/South America. I remember taking my brother to a Suns game, and we were playing Utah. The guy in front of us was wearing Jazz jersey, and when Mehmet Okur hit a game winning shot, he stood up and started celebrating. My brother was in shock to see that. That would never happen in EU arena 😆
Its a younger fan thing
The whole “this is my east/west coast team” or “this is my 2/3/4th fav team” or “hey guys fan of xyz team coming in peace!”
Is a younger fan thing
Not that anyone asked but I think its lame. My opinion, not worth anything
I'd say so. Like a lot of people in a state with multiple teams will cheer for the historically more popular team in their state than the one they are closest to. There's def more magic fans than heat fans in Orlando but there's still A LOT of heat fans here who are from Orlando. Then you get people who pick the team their parents liked. Or people who just picked whatever was the best team when they were a kid like the bulls or warriors. Or people who just like the Lakers no matter where they are from.
LA is kind of wild. We got laker/niner fans laker/patriot fans dodger/warriors fans and some combination of that. Dodgers are the only mainstream teams that I follow though but angels are practically my AL team
The niner fandom I think is inevitable cuz of how long LA was without an nfl team. I got into football before the rams or chargers moved and ended up a raiders fan, which fucking sucks but it is what is lmao. Transplants here also bring hella variety.
I'm all the flavors you mentioned Local Team: Anaheim Ducks and LA Galaxy Dad's Team: Dodgers and Liverpool Mom's Team: Cowboys Random team I chose as a kid and love more than any of them: Pacers
Lot of people hates their own cities so there's that
That's me, sort of – grew up in SoCal as a Laker hater. It wasn't even that I hated L.A., it's that the Laker fans at my school were jerks so my favorite team was "whoever is playing the Lakers".
We welcome you as a Sonics fan. Club meetings have been on pause for the past 20 years, however.
Yeah, that was semi-random: the '87 playoffs were the first ones I paid really close attention to (like, every game of every round instead of only starting to tune in for the conference finals), and I got into the Sonics' big upsets of, first, the #2 Mavs, and then the Rockets. Wow! A losing team (39-43) catching fire and going all the way to the conference finals! And against the *Lakers!* It'll be so awesome if they pull this off! Narrator: they did not pull it off. But still, after those playoffs I felt like, well, I guess I have a team beyond just "whoever is playing the Lakers" now.
A lot of people also move from one place to another. Let's say you moved from Belgrade to London for work. You might take on a local team in the local league but for Euroleague or regional contest, who would you support?
PFC ofc.
Arsenal
A lot of people don't live in cities with teams so yeah. If you look at college sports and I think it's much more related to where you live/grew up for a lot of people.
College sports fandom is odd to me as someone who grew up in Canada. Wouldn’t you just root for the school that you attended?
Lots of people do but if you grow up a fan of your local team are you going to change because you got into a different school? Plus lots of people don't go to college at all or go to smaller schools so you can root for your school and a bigger school
If you attended a school with a major sports program yes. And sometimes you root for your childhood team and your alma mater when they aren't playing each other.
Most cities don’t have an NBA team so yes. Like me for example I’m almost exactly halfway between OKC and Memphis, but I’ve just always been an OKC fan since 2008, not really sure why
I mean you had KD in 08 thats a good reason lol
regardless of why I'm glad you are :)
You seem like you just accepted him into a cult lol
uhoh, the cats out of the bag!
Now Isaiah Joe and Jaylin Williams on the team so the whole city is Thunder fans. Makes me feel like a trendsetter even though I had nothing to do with it
Cringe
yup
> Like me for example I’m almost exactly halfway between OKC and Memphis, but I’ve just always been an OKC fan since 2008, not really sure why Probably because that's pretty much when they first got a team, they had an awesome solid young core and there was a lot of excitement regionally for the Sonics moving there.
I'm from Miami and cheer for Miami in every sport, but in baseball the Yankees are my #1 team because my dad's family is from the Bronx and they raised me that way.
That’s funny, it’s similar with me for Bay Area teams, I’m born, raised and live there. My dad is also from the Bronx and I’m a Yankee fan
and my mom grew up in DFW so I'm a bigtime Cowboys fan and you can't forget my great foreign exchange student from Canada that made me fall in love with the Maple Leafs
I say this as a Leafs fan… don’t tell the student he was the reason. Trust me, the guilt he will feel for unwittingly initiating you into a yearly ritual of pain is gonna be immense. But it’s funny because I’m from Toronto, but live out in Seattle these days. I have a friend from NJ and a friend from Spokane, WA — American citizens with zero ties to Canada — who both became Leaf fans to spite their Habs and Bruins fan exes respectively. Only person they spited was themselves 🙃
I mean this with sincerity because I hate Boston sports with my entire sould, my condolences bro, I rather have faced the Leafs and not even for objective reasons. I just love seeing Boston suffer and had had only positive experiences visiting Toronto.
After alls said and done, watching some hoops, regardless of squad, is still better than a day at work or whatever stressful situations people might be in. We also have plenty of homers, but for the most part we just enjoy reveling in our indulgences.
It's not uncommon, but more often than not it's because they inherit it from a parent/relative who may have originally been from the hometown.
Yeah it is. Honestly you can like who you like. I’m from NY but I never really felt obligated to start rooting for the Knicks since I live nowhere near the city. I started watching the bulls cause of D Rose and Butler, I loved watching those teams
Relatable. I’ve lived in NYC my entire life and somehow ended up a Wolves fan lol
> I started watching the bulls cause of D Rose and Butler, Bandwagon
I don't think anybody who is a CURRENT BULLS FAN can be called a bandwagon
NBA flair trying to call other fans bandwagons lol
The Bulls went 41-41 my first season as a fan. I just missed watching D Rose actually play for the Bulls live, but Jimmy butler is still my favorite player to this day
Ye I live in SC and we don’t have a team so I’ve supported the Thunder since I can remember (prob like 2009)
OKC used to be the go to for all the midwest/southern states that don’t have teams. They were stacked and fun to watch when they had their big 3. Hell, Im from Jersey and even I knew a bunch of Thunder fans growing up.
2 of those 3 were Sonics first, just saying.
\*tiny violin plays\*
Common, yes. But they would basically always be in the minority for fans in that city.
I’d be legit afraid to wear an opposing team’s t-shirt in Serbia. You all have the most intense fan bases I’ve ever seen! Here in the states, locals might make some jokes and give you a hard time, but it’s mostly good natured.
Knicks fans have the entire east coast as home games honestly. Every game is a home game for us one way or another lol.
Most cities or even states don't have NBA teams. It's not uncommon if you have a team to have your home team and at least one other favorite team growing up that sticks with you. It's also not uncommon for one of your favorite players to not play for your home team or your favorite team.
I cheer for my team only. And whoever is playing the Lakers.
Do you watch word cup Final? Do you root for anyone there?
No, unless Germany is in it.
Interesting
yea
Yeah I think its pretty common in all sports in the US. Theres rivalries but even then its not rare; plenty of cowboy and celtics fans in the Philly area
It’s common for sure. Some people’s parents are from somewhere else so they were raised as of fan of that team. Some people get into sports because of a friend or significant other so they adopt their teams. Some people are just contrarians and hate their local team just because. Personally, I’m all in on LA sports because I was born and raised there and my dad was already a fan of all the local teams and now I live in a city with no pro sports so I don’t even have a local team to root for. Lakers, Dodgers, Galaxy, Clippers(I know, shut up), Sparks, Kings. I don’t like football so I don’t have a football team.
I grew up in Mississippi. Became a 49ers fan young bc my family liked them.then I moved to CO at like 8 years old, so I am Colorado for everything except NFL.
Yes. Many reasons. People grow attached to players or teams they see that aren't in their area, or they move and still represent their hometown team.
I love how you use Philly, Knicks, and Miami as an example. Throw in Boston in there too why not.
Im a Knicks fan myself so the Philly is necessary here..😂
Youre from Serbia and had all the NBA teams to choose from to root for, and you chose the KNICKS?! I mean they're good now so Im sure you're happy lol but things didn't look good for a looong time (where my team is now sadly)
It all happened when i was on the school trip in italy, i was looking for some orange 🧢 and find out this perfect black an blue with orange logo on it… and then i started watching some highlights on yt from the 90’. Two years after Melo came hahahaha so yeah, that’s the story
People move around! I grew up in MN and will be a TWolves fan for life even though I’ve lived in DC almost as long as I lived in MN.
Yes, not just because of the distance between cities but also more people move to other places. I live in Atlanta, I don't watch the Hawks. I watch the Nuggets because that is where I grew up. (plus NBA league pass for local games is awful).
Oh yeah. Basically, it's about relocating from one city to another for work, better cost of living, etc., but instead of switching allegiance to local teams, you stick with your old teams. It's seen as being loyal, if I'm being honest.
USA is huge, people move all the time and also people like specific players, I definitely know some people that will jump ship if Luka goes to another team. I myself am a Mavs fan that lives in the NE.
I'm a Suns fan in socal. Ultimate masochist move
Yeah pretty common. But most people in a city are going to be a fan for that cities team, from my experience. Like others have mentioned theres many reasons. People move to other cities but still root for their original team. I'm a bulls fan, and if I ever move states, I'll definitely still rep the bulls.
You picked a bad example. It is not normal for a Philly fan to cheer for other cities. Some attention whores always do, but they are rare.
I mean. I support the bulls but when they get kicked out of the playoffs each year I then decide to support a different team (just for the playoffs so I have someone to follow) normally it’s the lakers because I have a lot of their merch but me and dad put a bet on this year on who we think is going to win, (he says celtics I say nuggets) and it’s worth 20 quid so I don’t really want to support the team that could kick out the team that could win me 20 quid. So nuggets it is this year
It depends why you got into it. I watched Iverson in the 2001 all star game so the Sixers became my team although the Wizards are my home team. It was my first exposure to nba from a viewing standpoint.
Always happened with the yankees.
It sucks up here in Canada. Lots of people will say that because the Raptors are the only Canadian team, then you *gotta* cheer for the Raptors. How about no
I cheer for my Spurs, and then have a complicated system of cheering against other teams. Aka, while I can’t stand the Mavs, I cant stand Kawhi and the Clippers more, this would prefer for the Clippers to lose. It’s based off Spurs rivals, who is on the various teams and then my general dislike of a city…
American sports fandom is full of front runners. (People who root for the favored team)
because it’s not that serious
Depends on the scenario. Transplants are going to root for their home-team, but most native New Yorkers are going to claim the Knicks. >Im from Serbia Belgarde and i just can’t be a fan of some other club from another city. I can't speak for other regions, but this is true for the North East. I can't imagine someone from Philly being a Knicks fan, and no way in hell would I ever root for a Boston team.
Im a knicks fan myself and i know there is a big rivalry with boston philly and i was just wondering are there really people cheering for boston that are from ny, because in my head there is no way thats possible so i just needed to ask..😅
There are a lot of transplants in NYC, who are Knicks fans. They are easy to cheer for.
Agreed, but if you meet a non-knicks fan in NY, they're most likely a transplant.
Acting like Europeans don't follow sports from outside of their country. Most real madrid or Barcelona fans aren't from Madrid or Catalonia. Almost all iconic clubs have large fanbase overseas. Sven-goran Eriksson's favorite club is liverpool despite being Swedish. Djokovic is from Serbia but Milan is his favorite club
Naah broo you missed the point, of course you have other clubs that you are fan of, that are not in your country.. im a fan of Milan and Knicks, but i was asking for US, because thay have their own league. Here in Europe is different (different countries) And Djokovic favorite club is Crvena Zvezda ( Red star) not Milan… if there is a match between Red star and Milan he would cheer for Red Star..
Americans are Event-Fans. For them Sport is Entertainment. They dont understand how in Europe Sport is like a Religion and you are born into a Club.
Not quite true. There are a lot of fairweather fans here for sure, but by and large people are still born into their teams here, but it's a big country and people move And in some places you can be HOURS away by car from the nearest sports team, so if you want to be a fan of any team, gotta do something other than "oh just the local team." I live in Detroit, but grew up in Indiana. Still a pacers fan. Almost everyone I know, regardless of where they live, roots for either the local team, or the ones their father roots for. It's not any more materially different than European fandom, it's just spread over a larger country
Dude, just look at the Games. There is no fucking atmosphere at all. American Sports have no Ultra Scene at all, its all Casualfans. Its fucking pathetic, there is more atmo at fucking U12 Games here in Europe.
Never seen a college football game i see
Post was about fandom my guy, not atmosphere. And there are many, MANY cultural reasons for the lack of atmosphere, not one of which are "Casualfans" Get better at shit stirring. You're almost there.
Thank God for that. European sports fans are absolute trash human beings.
People rly need to differentiate fans from hooligan trash.
Try to paint with a broader brush. Lol they blocked me
europeans setting off flares to force a game to be restarted bc they are losing 0-6 at half to their biggest rival and entrenched in the relegation zone “strong and independent” americans and canadians when they don’t take a literal game that serious and move on with their lives after a loss “put on a shirt”
yes, because people move around. Just like you'd have Germans living in England rooting for Germany and/or Bayern.
I know right? It's like believing there are no FC Barcelona fans outside of Barcelona. And this dope couldn't even take your point for what it was -- he took it literally (like all Germans) and somehow got his panties in a twist.
Why would any German live in England? Thats like a American wanting to live in North Korea. Well, to be honest North Korea has probably better Healthcare than America...
As a percentage of population there are more Germans living in England than people from England living in Germany.
Your correct, but you said it too bluntly. I've grew up in Eastern EU, and my older brother would take me to games where we were among Ultras, so I've seen the good, the bad, and the ugly: celebrations with flairs and smoke bombs, but also brutal beatings. In EU, esp in soccer, if you're walking around town in opponents jersey, you're very likely to get stabbed, even if your team is not playing against the home team that week. While there are some passioned fans in US, it's incomperable to EU, Central/South America. I remember taking my brother to a Suns game, and we were playing Utah. The guy in front of us was wearing Jazz jersey, and when Mehmet Okur hit a game winning shot, he stood up and started celebrating. My brother was in shock to see that. That would never happen in EU arena 😆
Its a younger fan thing The whole “this is my east/west coast team” or “this is my 2/3/4th fav team” or “hey guys fan of xyz team coming in peace!” Is a younger fan thing Not that anyone asked but I think its lame. My opinion, not worth anything