The NBA, and why it is O.K. to be a Bandwagoner..

by **Steve04** on Thu Jul 22, 2004 2:15 am

Often times, we lambast people for bandwagoning. But today, I'm here to show you that in a league like the NBA, bandwagoning is okay. Why, you ask? The NBA is a player oriented sport. It should be team, but that's for another day. The NBA Markets players, people choose who they root for because of "players".

What about Fans For Life, and all that junk..Well guess what, they chose in the beginning of their NBA Fandom to root for particular team because of individual players who have worn or were wearing the uniform. Lakers fan forever you say? Duh. They had Magic, They had Kareem. Then Shaq, and Kobe. Players that influenced you and your decision on whom and why you rooted for a particular team.

There are exceptions, but you couldn't find 50/100 people who started rooting for a team that was horrible and sucked big time and had no player to market to that fan. A Players league, A players fan. Without the star, the fan loses interest. Even the worst of teams in the NBA have someone the fan can identify with.

It's alright to bandwagon in the National Basketball Association. You're simply rooting for that team because they have a player who is your favorite player who is simply on a different team than the team you originally rooted for.

The NBA Thrives on bandwagoners. Either on the hate a player, hate a team bandwagon, or on the love a player, love a team bandwagon.

Bandwagons generate ratings, bandwagons make a team popular, without bandwagons, then there would be no haters, because they are on a bandwagon themselves. Albeit going in the wrong direction. But I'm a hater as well, going in the wrong direction, one foot on each bandwagon threatening to be split apart. Must choose sides. Will you?

by **Jackal** on Thu Jul 22, 2004 3:02 am

Lol, I like the way that was written. (Y)

by **Donatello** on Thu Jul 22, 2004 3:08 am

rock on man, someone finally said it (Y)

by **th3gh05t** on Thu Jul 22, 2004 5:45 am

yep. u r 100% right. hehe

if jordan was traded when he was with the bulls. wooooooop ti dooo, switch to the team jordan was traded to. hehe

its kinda iffy if u stick to a team when theres really no point stickin to it.
e.g. grizzlies when they were in vancouver... that stupid (_!_$(*@ of a gm stu jackson ruined the franchise... watched only 2 games in their whole 5-6yrs(?) in vancouver.

he picked players that are "safe picks" never drafted a HS player. never drafted players that had 'potential'
well, stromile swift was ALL potential haha. he sucks. he just dunks like a mofo.

by **twolvezfanfoever** on Thu Jul 22, 2004 7:00 am

I thinks that kinda true,but kinda not.Back then it was ok to be a bandwagoner cuz everybody loved Jorday.Da bulls were the first team that I liked.I had a whole shitload of bulls merchandise.I still use my Bull blanket.When they left,I left.Im a T'Wolves fan.I seriously dont know how it happened though.Most would say because of KG.No thats not it,it was somethin that drew me to them.Even though KG is my idol now.I been a Wolves fan for about 7-8 years now.Im at the point that Im a diehard Wolves fan.I love every single one that bears that uniform.Even when KG decides to retire or for some reason go to another team,I will still be a wolves fan.I have a KG jersey and a Szcerbiak jersey.I think I spelled it right.Im gettin a cassell and sprewell jersey next.But I dont like how everybody has just jumped to LA.I guess they see Kobe as the next Jordan.We bout to see how people be now that the Lakers are average again.Plus, I just dont like Kobe,so thats why I dont root for them. I really dotn believe in bandwagoning no more.Once you cheer for one team,you should stay with that team til you die or they go out of business.Thats my opinion

by **Matthew** on Thu Jul 22, 2004 10:51 am

Casual fans are bandwagoners... and casual fans opinions arent as valued as dedicated fans when it comes to talking about anything... whether it be pink shirts :lol:

or politics, or rap, or basketball...

There are exceptions, but you couldn't find 50/100 people who started rooting for a team that was horrible and sucked big time and had no player to market to that fan. A Players league, A players fan. Without the star, the fan loses interest. Even the worst of teams in the NBA have someone the fan can identify with.

What about Atlanta? Is jason terry really identifiable?

There are two types of fans as i said before... if you wanna go jumping from team to team (like homer) then people really wont respect you. If you want to stick to one team, through thick and thin (like Matt-stack42), then your opinion will be respected.. sometimes :twisted:

I can't stand casual fans who support whoever is going well and claim to be loyal.. but thats just me.

by **idiot** on Thu Jul 22, 2004 11:08 am

quiet awhile ago i jumped on to the LA bandwagon.......

um, the other LA team....

by **Matthew** on Thu Jul 22, 2004 11:10 am

The LA Sparks?

by **twolvezfanfoever** on Thu Jul 22, 2004 11:26 am

NBA_Fan_23 wrote:The LA Sparks?

lol,think he mean da Clip

by **Fresh8** on Thu Jul 22, 2004 4:34 pm

I liked Lakers because of Derek Fisher! And then converted myself to Kobe fan.... so i was a bandwagoner at first!

I was drawn to the Lakers becasue of the soap opera going on at the time...remember Kobe, Shaq's love hate issues....

by **Jowe** on Thu Jul 22, 2004 5:22 pm

I'm a laker fan.
started i guess as a bandwagoner, but it was the last days of magic.
i stuck with them when cedric ceballos was the leading scorer, when we had sedale threatt, when were struggling to make the playoffs.

I was there when we got swept by the spurs.
I was there when we swept the spurs.

by **air gordon** on Thu Jul 22, 2004 5:41 pm

no offense but i got a little snicker that you need to 'validate' your bandwagonning. however your post was nice and sounded well thought out

as a fan for life of the chicago bulls, i would like to add my 2 cents...

i don't know how it is for you guys from overseas, but for me, i take a lot pride in supporting the team that represents the city i live in. good or bad, that's just how it is. while it does help to have a marketable player, it isn't a deciding factor as to why i've stuck with the bulls. if anything, it was the team's play or style that drew me in more. and it didn't hurt to that team personifies the city. in a big city like chicago, you stick with your team. or at least go support another chicago team in another sport. otherwise you're a chump and should be hung for supporting a non chicago team

of course i am a fan of individual players on other teams, but by no means do i want to see their team succeed against a chicago team.

and i don't think the nba thrives on this so called bandwagonning. while it does spend a whole lot of time marketing it's big name players, it's the rivalries that draw the people in. the nba finals ratings were up from last year because it was the lakers vs pistons, instead of the small time market nets vs spurs. yes it was nice to have those big time players in that finals.

and btw, these big time rivalries don't spawn from bandwagonning lol. you're telling me that rivalry like chicago and detroit started because of a bunch of fans from, say, texas got interested?

if you ask me, most bandwagonners are young, don't have a team playing in their hometown, or just don't know any better.

like bandwagonning? go down to us cellular field sporting a cubs or yankee jersey

Bluesky · by **Andrew** on Thu Jul 22, 2004 6:55 pm

Bandwagoning is much worse when you claim to be a "fan for life" then ditch the team as soon as they start to decline, or when you latch on to a new team and suggest that you've been a lifelong fan. At some point, we were all new fans so at some point we all jumped on the bandwagon so to speak. It's whether you jump off at the first sign of trouble that establishes you as a warm weather fan.

by **Ben-le-ouf** on Thu Jul 22, 2004 10:15 pm

I agree 90% with you Steve04.

However I think every basketball fan must support one team for what the team is. Though nba is indivuals' business, basket is still a team sport.

There can be no excitement for the game if you only like a team for one player.
I'm a a Ewing fan and a knicks fan. When Ewing left the Knicks for the Sonics, I was unhappy for the Knicks but I was still a die-hard fan of the knicks and I was still excited by their following seasons playoffs..

by **hmm** on Thu Jul 22, 2004 10:20 pm

by **malice_05** on Thu Jul 22, 2004 11:30 pm

i hate bandwagoners. im a LAKER FAN FOR LIFE.
ppl jumpin on detroit cuz they won. that says somethin bout the person. that they could never be trusted, etc. i'll always be wit lakers WIN or LOSE. i wanna see how bandwagon jumpers are in the rest of their life.

by **Matt** on Fri Jul 23, 2004 12:30 am

Bandwagoners suck when they do what Andrew mentioned.

I could not live being a fan of all teams. Although being a Detroit fan is hard cos i get heart attacks and stomache ulcers when watching them play a close game (not literaly but close enough)

Since i live overseas, I'll explain how i got into Detroit. It all started when i was starting to be bball conscious, that is, i started to know all the teams a players. When i was 8 i wasn't hardcore NBA. The players i knew of then were Shaq, MJ, Pip, Mourning, Muggsy and the teams i knew of were Chicago, Orlando, Charlotte, New York and LA Lakers. So when i got a little older and more into the NBA i looked for an 'identity' of my own. This happened when Grant Hill was drafted. I loved the way he played, he could do EVERYTHING and i also like Joe Dumars, plus i thought the uniforms were cool. So i followed Detroit ever since and here I am happy as ever

good choice i guess.
I also liked the Bulls and when they didn't play the Pistons i was pulling for them cos MJ was and is my alltime fav player. Also loved Hakeem Olajuwon. Pistons are still my choice now and forever will be, i don't really have a second team that I like.

Go Detroit!!!!

by **Steve04** on Fri Jul 23, 2004 3:18 am

I'm going to root for my favorite player, no matter what team he's on, and I'm not apologizing for that. I've been a Kobe fan since he was drafted and before he became what he is.

My hometown team, the sucky wizards will always have a place in my heart though. From the time when the BULLETS(Why did Pollen change our name to something sissy like that, and all in the name of not promoting violence. And you wonder why we're so bad?) flirted with playoff success to now when they have no idea what they're doing, I still root for them.

But I root for the Lakers because they have my favorite player in the league, Kobe Bryant. Although even before then I liked them when they had Van Exel and Co. I'm not old enough to remember Magic Johnson beyond his brief comback stint when he got spanked by MJ and the Bulls in 96? I wouldn't call myself a true bandwagoner. I don't jump to any team that has success. Most of the teams that have success I hate because they beat the Lakers to get there.

by **ATTENTIONWHORE** on Fri Jul 23, 2004 4:09 am

My 200th Post...

I don't really watch NBA games all that much...I mostly watch the Playoffs; I occasionally watch the Bulls play here at the U.C.; it really all boils down to the Playoffs anyway...

by **Andre** on Fri Jul 23, 2004 9:50 am

I think we should make a dinstiction between Bandwagoners and switchers.

Bandwagoners: It's true that you often start rooting for some team because it's a good team or because you like some players. That makes you a bandwagoner at that time. But you stop being a bandwagoner when the main player is traded or the team suck..but you stick to your team and keep rooting for it. Then you have become a loyal & respectable fan

Switcher: you become a switcher if you start rooting for another team when the main player in your past team is traded or if the team starts to suck. Switchers are usually "Casual Fans" with little interest in basketball.

I was a bandwagoner because I chose the Lakers in the 80s with magic and kareem. I stopped being a bandawagoner when the Lakers were in trouble in 1993 and 1994 and struggled untill 2000. I will stick to my lakers to life and I hated to be called a bandwagoner during the 3 titles!! I was not!!

by **Steve04** on Fri Jul 23, 2004 10:45 am

Bandwagoners and Switchers are one and the same. You can only bandwagon if there is a bandwagon that's moving to jump on. If the bandwagon stops and everyone else is still on then you're a fan of that team I guess. I fail to see why one is not a "true" fan just because they root for their favorite player, regardless of whether or not that player is having success or not.

By your definition I'm not a bandwagoner though, because I first started rooting for the Lakers around 1994-1995 when I was little and still sorting out who I liked. During that time I rooted for the Lakers/Bulls. Then the Lakers when MJ retired. Shoot me.

by **Nick** on Fri Jul 23, 2004 4:23 pm

I guess i'm a bandwagoner... sort of..

I live overseas, so i've never really had a hometown to support. When i was really young and used to play the old NBA video games and i chose my fav teams depending on their jerseys.

I liked Phoenix and Hornets because i reckon they had cool jerseys. Then i forgot about NBA for a few years untill about 2001 when i really started getting into it again. Never really supported a specific team untill Amare was drafted and i thought "right, i'm a suns fan now." i liked the combo of Amare, Marbury, Marion and Penny. So i guess you could say that was me hopping on the bandwagon.

But i'm still a suns fan today despite a crappy season last season, and even if Amare were traded.. i still would support them.

by **Matthew** on Fri Jul 23, 2004 5:57 pm

I spose I should say how I became a fan of the knicks...i really started getting into the nba during the 97 season, and this was mainly becuase of mj and i was starting to play basketball. I was a bulls fan and enjoyed every minute of the bulls championship. then in the offseason, the bulls management showed disrespect to jackson, pippen was unhappy and demanded to be traded and i just couldnt go for chicago. i still was a fan of jordan and pippen, but i couldnt bring myself to support the bulls in 98. i wasnt really a fan of any team, but i was following stackhouse, mj, pip, marbury and shaq. when stack got traded to detroit i started to half follow them, but only becuase of 42. in the finals i was going for utah, but i was very happy the way that ended.. it ended how it should have, with jordan and all. then the lockout struck, and i was not really into the nba, until that knicks run... and since then i have followed them. that wont change. and i continue to follow stackhouse. the only other players i bother to care about is francis, camby and spree... but im a knicks fan now for 5 years, and none of them have been very good except 99... ill probably stay a knicks fan...

When did i do that ? i was,i am and i will always be a Magic fan

except when you follow the heat, pistons, twolves and spurs.. and also the nuggets, nets, raptors and whoever else might be going well. good work! :lol:

By your definition I'm not a bandwagoner though, because I first started rooting for the Lakers around 1994-1995 when I was little and still sorting out who I liked. During that time I rooted for the Lakers/Bulls. Then the Lakers when MJ retired. Shoot me.

That doesn't mean your not a true fan of the nba if you switch team, it just means your not a true fan of that team...

Bluesky · by **Andrew** on Fri Jul 23, 2004 7:44 pm

There's always a reason why we start following a team and often it's because they are one of the better teams in the league, or the most famous. This is especially true for fans who don't live in the US. By definition this could be considered bandwagoning, but as I said before all new fans have to jump on the bandwagon at some point. It's how you deal with the low times that define you as a true fan or a true bandwagoner.

by **Old School Fool** on Fri Jul 23, 2004 7:57 pm

I did this with the NFL :lol:

I loved the 49ers...then when Jerry Rice headed to Oakland I was like "I'mma have to be an Oakland fan now"

and I am and I am STUCK this way because they own

The NBA, and why it is O.K. to be a Bandwagoner..

The NBA, and why it is O.K. to be a Bandwagoner..

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