With the NBA Finals in full swing, the Golden State Warriors are one game away from clinching their second straight championship over the Cleveland Cavaliers. So naturally, the Warriors’ fan base is now bigger than its ever been.
While it’s no secret that teams who rise to the top also see an increase in fan numbers, the history-making Warriors present a special case of the “bandwagon” epidemic. Los Angeles Lakers’ Nick Young recently took issue with this on Twitter:
Keep riding that bandwagon,, bcuz you would no what team I'm talkin about https://t.co/g3ehykNnBG
— Nick Young (@NickSwagyPYoung) June 11, 2016
Although it went without saying, Young followed up with some clarification as to which fans he was talking about:
I hate 2016 GS fans … They dnt know nothing about basketball
— Nick Young (@NickSwagyPYoung) June 11, 2016
Young is hardly the first player to acknowledge the bandwagoners in the Bay Area, Sacramento Kings’ forward Rudy Gay made a similar comment following a loss at home in which the crowd was majority Warriors fans. Though Young’s comments don’t speak for all the real, dedicated Warriors fans, there is certainly some truth to what he was saying.
During last year’s NBA Finals, the Warriors bandwagon was exposed after a piece done on Jimmy Kimmel’s Lie Witness News, in which they had a reporter interview “Warriors fans” about players, strategies, and overall view of the series. The problem was that all the questions were completely made up and almost had nothing to do with the Finals. However, that did not stop those fans from expressing their opinions on the matter.
Whether we like it or not, the bandwagon is always going to be there for any team that is enjoying success.