This past weekend Steph Curry enjoyed festivities at BottleRock in Napa. LeBron James and some of his Cavaliers teammates took in a Future concert. The two best teams in the world are relaxing and soaking in some time off before the grind that will be the 2017 NBA Finals.
The same can’t be said for the two fan bases. Warriors and Cavaliers fans have been jawing at each other on Twitter for the better half of three years. Insults from Cleveland’s side often include how the Warriors have the most bandwagon fans and that many didn’t cheer for the team until the rise of Curry under the direction of Steve Kerr.
That may be true nationally, but locally, the Warriors’ support has been constant in Oakland. Twitter user @Icetrey has compiled a graph showing Cleveland’s attendance plummeting once LeBron left town.
*Marks LeBron’s arrival.
2011-2012: 19th (15,926 average attendance)
2012-2013: 22nd (16,192)
2013-2014:16th (17,329)
2014-15: 2nd (20,962)*
Obviously losing LeBron negatively impacted ticket sales. The point is that Cleveland loves LeBron more than they love the Cavs. Just across town, Clevelanders are still showing up for the Browns, a perennially losing team. So you can’t argue that it’s all about success. Loyal fans should remain loyal no matter the circumstance.
During the same time period, while they were an improving young team, the Warriors held strong in attendance rankings — despite showing no super team potential. At all.
*Marks Steph Curry’s first MVP season
2011-2012: 10th (18,857 average attendance)
2012-2013: 5th (19,373)
2013-2014: 6th (19,596)
2014-15: 7th (19,596)*
Cleveland can chastise Warrior fans for Draymond Green’s antics, or Kevin Durant’s demeanor, or Steph Curry’s arrogance on the basketball court. They can’t really chastise Warriors fans for jumping on and off the bandwagon, because Northeast Ohioans are guilty of that very premise.
Some will blame economic factors are vastly different in Cleveland than the Bay Area. But the proof is in the pudding.
It's funny how Cavs fans consistently refer to the Warriors fanbase as fake but: pic.twitter.com/1e8dLKuHh2
— ️ (@Ictrey5) May 28, 2017