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Fans Unappreciated

by David Pincus
2006-04-20

The Clippers and Grizzlies played a game yesterday where the loser would get home-court advantage against the Nuggets. Lately, people have been scolding the Clippers for playing Vin Baker and Daniel Ewing, who scarcely leave the bench. In last night's game, LA blatantly rested any of their relatively great players and lost. However I would have been more upset with the Grizzlies had they not played their stars.

The last home game for an NBA team in a season is officially "Fan Appreciation Night". Had Memphis not played their starters in the second half, it would have been utter hypocrisy. Playoff teams rest players at the end of the season, and bad teams want to become even worse to move up in the draft. It happens in all sports; the 49ers and Texans played a game last year where neither team wanted to win. That much is elementary and isn't much of an issue.

But when it's "Fan Appreciation Night" it is an issue. Future playoff teams like the Clippers should have at least played their regular bench players in their season finale against the Sonics. Instead they played the likes of Bonafice Ndong and lost by 20 (by the way, best NBA name since Maybyner Hilario).

Easily the worst happening on this event was with the 76ers. Unlike the Clippers, Philadelphia is not going to the postseason. Not only Allen Iverson and Chris Webber not play against the Nets, they never even entered the building. After a horrid attendance rating and miserable finish, the least AI and C-Webb could have done was to appear in the first half. I guess a lack of love in Philadelphia isn't surprising though.

The Heat rested their players and got steamrolled at home by Chicago. So when the Bulls came to Orlando two days later, the game's significance was definitely diminished. Both teams played most of their players and the game went to overtime. However it was also "Hardwood Classics Night" and the Chicago Bulls came out in their old Stags jersey from 50 years ago. Not since Ted Turner managed the Atlanta Braves for a game had uniforms looked uglier. Fans can't appreciate the game if they see a professional basketball team wearing rejected Globetrotters uniforms.

The Wizards fans got it good; with the #5-8 teams in the East all close together, the Bucks came into town, with the winner of the game playing the Cavs in the first round rather than New Jersey, Miami or Detroit. The game could have been tighter, but it featured both Michael Redd and Gilbert Arenas playing important minutes in the 4th. The best part was that both teams were trying to win, unlike the Clippers/Grizzlies game.

There were two deceptive ploys for "Fan Appreciation Night". The Mavs fans received free airline tickets for showing up to a completely useless game yesterday. However they could only choose between 5 cities to fly to and there wasn't a return ticket. The Nets fans didn't have to pay the tollbooths when they attended their finale, but the gesture would've been better had this not been the only time it occurred.

The Golden State Warriors came into 2006 with plenty of hype but nothing to show for it. So the team released a formal apology to their fans after their home game against the Blazers. At the very least it's a benign showing to their fanbase. They haven't made the playoffs in since Chris Webber was there and yet they continue to post an impressive attendance average. Golden State couldn't have foreseen Baron Davis to miss the final 25+ games of the year due to injury. That still doesn't account for all the missed free throws, botched layups, and overall choke jobs they displayed throughout the year. So while the letter doesn't make up for another missed attempt at the postseason, it's a better method than the Bodi Miller "I'm glad I lost" approach.

I understand that players have to be rested and that you can't expect a competitive game on the last game of the year. But at the very least, can "Fan Appreciation Night" be earlier in the season? What kind of token is it to have this occur at the time of the year when there are almost 0 decent games? Is it so much to see at least a microcosm of the Miami Heat when they play the Hawks? I guess not.