What's up with fans being fans of players first, franchises second?

Fans being fans of players first, franchises second?. Seems like there's tons of people who follow players first and only blame stuff on there teammates and really only care how that player does. Kobe with L.A fans. LeBron with all the people who followed him from Cleveland to Miami. Even with not as popular players like Melo who alot of people switched from Denver to NY. On the internet seems to be guy's who simply just follow around young stars such as Beasley(only a few lol) and Mayo(not so much anymore but when he first entered the league).

Not hating on it, but I just don't understand it. For the most part franchises are around for your entire life. Clearly some exceptions with relocation but for the most part. Players get traded, sign elsewhere, retire. Just don't understand why you'd only want to root for one player in a team sport, where tons of things effect it. Even when your a fan of a team first, player second it can cloud things(Ex. Me with Lawson, not becoming to keen on Felton) so couldn't imagine how much it would it would effect your judgement if you only really wanted one player to succeed first and foremost.

So guess my questions to fans that just root for a player first, team second would be

- What do you do when said player get's hurt or retires? Just pick a new one?
- If he get's traded or signs elsewhere is it just as simple as picking a new favorite player and becoming a fan of the team he plays on?.
- What made you decide to do it?
- Are you loyal to that player no matter what? Like that StroShow guy. Or do you wait for a good player, that's legit?

Once again, not hating on it. Just can't understand the concept really.

bandwagon fans. half of cavs fans have became heat fans since lebron has switched teams

Cant think of a laker/kobe fan that would switch teams if kobe is gone from the lakers.

ehh? the sport is international. not everyone lives in the US. so naturally, ppl living outside the US will have no "home team" to support. making these fans "player fans" first before "team fans."

i've been a kings fan, blazers, suns, cavs, and now miami fan.

[QUOTE=Harion]ehh? the sport is international. not everyone lives in the US. so naturally, ppl living outside the US will have no "home team" to support. making these fans "player fans" first before "team fans."[/QUOTE]

Guess this makes some sense. Still tho, those players wouldn't be "home" players to support, unless you were from the same spot(Dirk, Germany) so it's kinda the same. Only difference is you'd have to change teams up, find a new player once he was out of the league instead of just sticking the same thing through out the years.

Good point tho.

lebrons "mobile" fanbase is the sports lowest form of bandwagoning

[QUOTE=Mr. Jabbar]Cant think of a laker/kobe fan that would switch teams if kobe is gone from the lakers.[/QUOTE]

Yet to be seen. If L.A goes into the lottery the next few years, Kobe retires. Can't see everybody staying on board. Maybe tho since L.A is like the best or second best franchise out there.

Anyways wasn't trying to call out anybody or any team player specifically. Just used some examples. I was actually looking for self admitted player fans, to see what there take on it was.

[quote=NuggetsFan]Yet to be seen. If L.A goes into the lottery the next few years, Kobe retires. Can't see everybody staying on board. Maybe tho since L.A is like the best or second best franchise out there.

Anyways wasn't trying to call out anybody or any team player specifically. Just used some examples. I was actually looking for self admitted player fans, to see what there take on it was.[/quote]

I see. Anyway, to answer the question, which has been made many times, and by me too; I think player fans are mostly younger fellas who are in search of a "hero" or idolize icons too much. Can't think of a grown up man bouncing around NBA teams along with their favorite player.

If you didn't have a team that you rooted for growing up that you have a connection to it's easier to connect and pull for a person than a uniform.

players come and go Franchises are forever. [COLOR=white](no pun intended Seattle fans)[/COLOR]

[QUOTE=NuggetsFan]Guess this makes some sense. Still tho, those players wouldn't be "home" players to support, unless you were from the same spot(Dirk, Germany) so it's kinda the same. Only difference is you'd have to change teams up, find a new player once he was out of the league instead of just sticking the same thing through out the years.

Good point tho.[/QUOTE]
just imagine the sudden dispersal of Chinese basketball fans from rooting for the Rockets to being "teamless" now that Yao is gone. same thing.

[QUOTE]ehh? the sport is international. not everyone lives in the US. so naturally, ppl living outside the US will have no "home team" to support. making these fans "player fans" first before "team fans." [/QUOTE]

this is actually stupid. whos even talking about fans outside of america, we have a population of 300+ milion, lets focus on those fans that have a home team but still follow one player. hell, i'll even go as far as saying that outsider fanbase is more loyal to franchises than inside the states fanbase, with "home teams" to cheer for. europeans for example will stick w their team for life, no matter how good bad or what not happens to it. same w nba, a european kid that was growing up in the jordan era will still be a bulls folower to this day. while in america that kid is probably a "lakers" fan now.
btw so u gota have a "home team" to support a franchise? i bet 90% of lakers fans arent even from la. and no, it is a discrace to the league that certain players have way more fanbase then franchises. we as americans have alowed that because of all the advertisements n attention being thrown onto one player instead of a team. thats the only reason, nba made the league into a superstar league instead of a franchise leage. hell the only real franchise left standing with a serious loyal fanbase in the nba are the boston celtics... maybe even new york but thats a BIG maybe. everything else is just shit... all FAKE

They're either from some backwater area with no squad, or they followed the player since college/etc, or they share some other thing with the player (nationality, from the same city, etc)

[QUOTE=cleveland]this is actually stupid. whos even talking about fans outside of america, we have a population of 300+ milion,[/QUOTE]

No, you're stupid. We are not sitting around a table at some american bar having a few drinks talking about basketball.

we're on the internet and that gets into the BILLIONS around the world.

i think it goes something like this... you can either like Star Wars and watch every Star Wars movie or you can like Carrie Fisher and watch all her movies (in which case you will not bother with Epi 1-3)

you can't say which one is right or wrong

im young, i just started watching nba few years ago and im not from usa
i can see myself cheering for the clippers in years to come if they dont screw up the team
if not, i will continue being fan of young players and watch the game for fun, unlike soccer where my week is fu*ked up if barca lose ( thanks god it doesnt happen often)

[QUOTE=alenleomessi]im young, i just started watching nba few years ago and im not from usa
i can see myself cheering for the clippers in years to come if they dont screw up the team[/QUOTE]Please don't let Donald Tokowitz rain on your parade. He will ruin the Clippers' current potential (and his own long term profitability), with his own short term selfishness and short term greed. Please continue to love the game even after that piece of Scum squanders everything Blake Griffin has gifted to him.

[QUOTE=Harion]ehh? the sport is international. not everyone lives in the US. so naturally, ppl living outside the US will have no "home team" to support. making these fans "player fans" first before "team fans."

i've been a kings fan, blazers, suns, cavs, and now miami fan.[/QUOTE]
Not everyone.
For example I support the Knicks and I will support them no matter who plays for them.I also know a few people like me.
But I also know a lot of people who are "players fans" and they cheer either for the strongest or for the team with their favorite player.

i'm from australia yet i dont support the bucks but i do like bogut as a player

I've become a players fan when my favorite team disappeared (The Seattle Sonics). Since then, there's no team that I like more than the others :(

[QUOTE=QuebecBaller]I've become a players fan when my favorite team disappeared (The Seattle Sonics). Since then, there's no team that I like more than the others :([/QUOTE]

Ditto. Seattle's demise has turned me into a player fan.

I'm a fan of players, not teams. I watch the NBA to see good or great players do their thing. If the top 30 players went to Europe, I'd watch less NBA and more Euroball.

I don't like to waste my time watching a crappy franchise struggle just because they happen to be nearby.

I don't have a "favorite" player that I follow and root for. I have several players that I support. I generally cheer for the more entertaining player or team. The NBA is supposed to be entertainment and that's what I focus on - being entertained.

Like the others have said, since the demise of the Sonics, I have become more of a players fan.

But I might very well become a fan of the team if the player retires with that team (not being a journeyman).

I guarantee there are more posters here who are fans of teams than of players. It's just due to the heavy amount of player VS player comparison threads and posts that skews the perspective.

im a lakers fan 1st. player fan 2nd. but kobe is my favorite player. er well was idk lately ive been sick of watching him play. But he will likely be my favorite player till the day he retires

Being a fan of players as opposed to teams, I'm guilty as charged. Probably has to do with my nomadic life growing up, and my family being immigrants (which means I had to develop a love for the game by myself). I enjoy the game because of the great players, not because I happen to be born in a city, and that city has a basketball team I absolutely must root for. I never understood that logic, but that's the convention. Right now I live in LA, and while I did root for the Lakers when Magic played, I stopped rooting for them since 1991.

However, I'm not a fan of a player to the logic you lay out, to the exclusion of the player's team or to the detriment of any other player of the same position. That's infantile reasoning 99% of fans are crippled with. Now, to your questions:

[QUOTE=NuggetsFan]- What do you do when said player get's hurt or retires? Just pick a new one? [/quote]
I actually have several favorite players. I follow their teams and I learn how they are great or weak in different areas, how they can help or hurt their teams, etc., etc.

[quote]- If he get's traded or signs elsewhere is it just as simple as picking a new favorite player and becoming a fan of the team he plays on?. [/quote]
I started following the NBA seriously in 1991. By then I chose Clyde Drexler as my #1 favorite player, and Hakeem Olajuwon as #2. I didn't know who to root for in 1994, when the Rockets beat the Blazers in the 1st round. Once the Rockets traded for Clyde, I was in 7th heaven. Probably similar to what a fan of the Houston Rockets would feel like. But once Clyde retired, & Hakeem declined and was traded (?) I stopped following the Rockets. By then I had a new favorite player: Tim Duncan and eventually by 2003, Ginobili. The Spurs have been my favorite team by default, but once Duncan retires and Ginobili leaves, they're just another team.

[quote]- What made you decide to do it?[/quote]
The fact that the game is made great by great players, not by some random team you're assigned to by birth. Having a personal choice makes your favorite player all the more meaningful than rooting for some team by tradition and by fate. To me, at least. :violin:
[quote]- Are you loyal to that player no matter what? Like that StroShow guy. Or do you wait for a good player, that's legit?[/QUOTE]
I'm more of a great player fan. If that player declines suddenly, then he's just another player in my eyes collecting a check. :sleeping


Don't blame you for not understanding it. But because you are not able to conceive of a different way of growing up and enjoying the game, you cannot claim yours to be the correct one. Loyalty is overrated, and simply for fools, IMO. :hammerhead:

[QUOTE=nashwade]i think it goes something like this... you can either like Star Wars and watch every Star Wars movie or you can like Carrie Fisher and watch all her movies (in which case you will not bother with Epi 1-3)

you can't say which one is right or wrong[/QUOTE]
I was going to use the movie analogy as well. I'm not a fan of basketball for the sake of loyalty, so I don't need to be a fan of a specific team, per se. That said, I just [i]happen[/i] to have grown up with the Detroit Pistons, so I'm a huge Pistons fan. I don't need them, but it's a ton of fun following them, feeling enriched by their success and feeling down when they fail.

Conversely, I've also been fans of individual players. Even if the Pistons inexplicably moved to Montana and I cut all ties, I'd still be able to find joy in NBA basketball. I was a huge David Robinson fan in the 90's and subsequently, I was a Spurs fan. When he retired though, I sort of lost interest in San Antonio.

Similarly, I had a ton of fun watching Vince Carter play. I was a fan of his because he was exciting and entertaining. I was a fan of LeBron James because there was an intriguing storyline of a hometown kid steamrolling the league seemingly on his own. That's really the long and short of it. I don't really see how people could go wrong either way (fans of teams or individuals - or both). For me, it's about fun and entertainment; they both come via home team success and individual favorite player accomplishments.

[QUOTE=Gotterdammerung]Being a fan of players as opposed to teams, I'm guilty as charged. Probably has to do with my nomadic life growing up, and my family being immigrants (which means I had to develop a love for the game by myself). I enjoy the game because of the great players, not because I happen to be born in a city, and that city has a basketball team I absolutely must root for. I never understood that logic, but that's the convention. Right now I live in LA, and while I did root for the Lakers when Magic played, I stopped rooting for them since 1991.

However, I'm not a fan of a player to the logic you lay out, to the exclusion of the player's team or to the detriment of any other player of the same position. That's infantile reasoning 99% of fans are crippled with. Now, to your questions:


I actually have several favorite players. I follow their teams and I learn how they are great or weak in different areas, how they can help or hurt their teams, etc., etc.


I started following the NBA seriously in 1991. By then I chose Clyde Drexler as my #1 favorite player, and Hakeem Olajuwon as #2. I didn't know who to root for in 1994, when the Rockets beat the Blazers in the 1st round. Once the Rockets traded for Clyde, I was in 7th heaven. Probably similar to what a fan of the Houston Rockets would feel like. But once Clyde retired, & Hakeem declined and was traded (?) I stopped following the Rockets. By then I had a new favorite player: Tim Duncan and eventually by 2003, Ginobili. The Spurs have been my favorite team by default, but once Duncan retires and Ginobili leaves, they're just another team.


The fact that the game is made great by great players, not by some random team you're assigned to by birth. Having a personal choice makes your favorite player all the more meaningful than rooting for some team by tradition and by fate. To me, at least. :violin:

I'm more of a great player fan. If that player declines suddenly, then he's just another player in my eyes collecting a check. :sleeping


Don't blame you for not understanding it. But because you are not able to conceive of a different way of growing up and enjoying the game, you cannot claim yours to be the correct one. Loyalty is overrated, and simply for fools, IMO. :hammerhead:[/QUOTE]

No offense dude but you'll never know how it feels for your team to win a championship, or even just do well. You just float around to whichever team or player is hot right now or you like, obviously picking the good ones and leaving those that don't perform. If you don't suffer with a team and have a bond with fellow fans you'll never know what that really feels like to finally make it. And representing a local team is representing you're area and pride in general. Anyone can just pick the best teams and have their teams win that way. You only really experience the payoff if you go through every high and low with them. I wouldn't of even said anything but you're talking down to us like you're way is so much better and we don't understand. I think you don't get it.

[QUOTE=InfiniteBaskets]I guarantee there are more posters here who are fans of teams than of players. It's just due to the heavy amount of player VS player comparison threads and posts that skews the perspective.[/QUOTE]This.

I'm a Spurs fan before anything else, but I never really had to experience big players moving and the franchise changing drastically, since the Spurs have kept the same core forever now. I don't know what shits gonna be like in a few years though. I'm trying to imagine myself watching a Spurs game with Timmy, Manu and Pop all retired, and Tony probably traded. Seems like some Twilight zone shit man. The hell? Who's gonna be o the ****ing team? :oldlol:

[QUOTE=brandowas]No offense dude but you'll never know how it feels for your team to win a championship, or even just do well. You just float around to whichever team or player is hot right now or you like, obviously picking the good ones and leaving those that don't perform. If you don't suffer with a team and have a bond with fellow fans you'll never know what that really feels like to finally make it. [/QUOTE]
Actually this is incorrect.

I suffered the highs and the lows of following the Rockets for about 5 years, from 1993 to 1998. I followed them during Hakeem's prime, and by extension the success/failure of the team. I went through the same ribbing and boasting vs friends who were fans of other teams, rivals of the Rockets, and when they won the title, it was the happiest I've ever been. Sure, I had zero ties to the city, but you gotta take my history in account. A frigging vagabond, with no basketball city until i moved to LA and Magic immediately retires. Yeah right. Gonna follow a suck-ass team who can't play.

On the other hand, you're partially right. I don't have that fan syndrome anymore. It doesn't hurt as much when the Spurs lose. At the same time, when they win, it doesn't hit home as much. That's fine with me, because I enjoy the game more than my own identity, or ego that happens to be linked to some random team of the city/area I happen to be born in. I know more about the game than almost every other Lakers fan I meet, and I don't suffer from their homerism.

There's another reason: gambling. Bottom line, you can't bet on your favorite team, but thanks to fans from LA, the Vegas line of every LA sports team is inflated and easy pickings. :oldlol:

Sorry if that comes off as condescending, which wasn't my intention, but just my personal view and a clear example of a different way of enjoying the game.

[quote]And representing a local team is representing you're area and pride in general. Anyone can just pick the best teams and have their teams win that way. You only really experience the payoff if you go through every high and low with them. I wouldn't of even said anything but you're talking down to us like you're way is so much better and we don't understand. I think you don't get it.[/QUOTE]
Actually I did get it. Then I stopped playing the game and graduated from the merry go around. There's a new ride called bumper cars - you can even change cars on your next ride! :hammerhead:

Basically: players are free agents. Fans can be, too, but I guess a long history of tradition and comfortable convention are roadblocks for most of us to get this. :confusedshrug:

[QUOTE=Gotterdammerung]Actually this is incorrect.

I suffered the highs and the lows of following the Rockets for about 5 years, from 1993 to 1998. I followed them during Hakeem's prime, and by extension the success/failure of the team. I went through the same ribbing and boasting vs friends who were fans of other teams, rivals of the Rockets, and when they won the title, it was the happiest I've ever been. Sure, I had zero ties to the city, but you gotta take my history in account. A frigging vagabond, with no basketball city until i moved to LA and Magic immediately retires. Yeah right. Gonna follow a suck-ass team who can't play.

On the other hand, you're partially right. I don't have that fan syndrome anymore. It doesn't hurt as much when the Spurs lose. At the same time, when they win, it doesn't hit home as much. That's fine with me, because I enjoy the game more than my own identity, or ego that happens to be linked to some random team of the city/area I happen to be born in. I know more about the game than almost every other Lakers fan I meet, and I don't suffer from their homerism.

There's another reason: gambling. Bottom line, you can't bet on your favorite team, but thanks to fans from LA, the Vegas line of every LA sports team is inflated and easy pickings. :oldlol:

Sorry if that comes off as condescending, which wasn't my intention, but just my personal view and a clear example of a different way of enjoying the game.


Actually I did get it. Then I stopped playing the game and graduated from the merry go around. There's a new ride called bumper cars - you can even change cars on your next ride! :hammerhead:

Basically: players are free agents. Fans can be, too, but I guess a long history of tradition and comfortable convention are roadblocks for most of us to get this. :confusedshrug:[/QUOTE]

Rooting for the Rockets from 93-98, and then the Spurs in the 2000's isnt exactly experiencing the lows. Both those teams were dominant and won multiple championships, made playoffs every year etc...

So would you root for France in the Olympics if you liked those players than those from the US team? According to you, you should because what's the point in random loyalty. Why don't you kill your dog every 3 years and get a new puppy because it's cuter? Sorry I understand that you like to just root for the best teams and players, but I just don't get how that's fulfilling. To each his own though. :cheers:

Thanks for the Shout-Out:cheers: :cheers:

[QUOTE=brandowas]Rooting for the Rockets from 93-98, and then the Spurs in the 2000's isnt exactly experiencing the lows. Both those teams were dominant and won multiple championships, made playoffs every year etc...[/quote]
At the same time Hakeem Olajuwon suffered difficult losses like that 7 game series vs the Sonics in 1993, where a iffy call favored the Sonics in overtime in Game 7. I was so mad. Then in 1995, I doubt anyone who had the luck to support a team that won the title went through as many highs and lows in [B]ONE [I]FRIGGING [/I]PLAYOFF RUN[/B]. If you don't know what happened, then shut yer trap.

The Spurs got wiped out by the Lakers in 2001, and 2002. Had to put up with the jeering and sneering Lakers fan for a long while, and got them good in 2003. 2004, had to eat crow after going up 2-0 again.

While there were wins, there were losses, blank outs, and first round eliminations just like any other team. :confusedshrug:

[quote]So would you root for France in the Olympics if you liked those players than those from the US team? [/quote]
Nah cuz the French suck. Although I was partial to Argentina in 2004. :hammerhead:

[QUOTE=Mr. Jabbar]Cant think of a laker/kobe fan that would switch teams if kobe is gone from the lakers.[/QUOTE]
:roll: :roll: :roll: :roll:

[QUOTE=Mr. Jabbar]Cant think of a laker/kobe fan that would switch teams if kobe is gone from the lakers.[/QUOTE]
Not sure if serious.

[QUOTE=Heat007]No, you're stupid. We are not sitting around a table at some american bar having a few drinks talking about basketball.

we're on the internet and that gets into the BILLIONS around the world.[/QUOTE]
Owned.

[QUOTE=Mr. Jabbar]Cant think of a laker/kobe fan that would switch teams if kobe is gone from the lakers.[/QUOTE]
I already counted more than 5. I won't name those stans.

I'm an Orlando Magic fan. If Howard leaves, I'll be an Orlando Magic fan, I dont follow players to other teams. Thats band wagon bullshit!

[QUOTE=Harion]ehh? the sport is international. not everyone lives in the US. so naturally, ppl living outside the US will have no "home team" to support. making these fans "player fans" first before "team fans."

i've been a kings fan, blazers, suns, cavs, and now miami fan.[/QUOTE]

i dont have a home team

obv i liked the players hawks had/hav but i wouldnt be changing if they left

i am a knicks fan
started watching the nba regularly in 2007 they sucked that year but that didn't matter because I loved watching them and it's crazy how much the team changed in 4years i don't think there is one player left from the 07roster but that's good because we are a playoff team and have a great future if we don't screw it up

i also understand guys who can't identify with a team and follow one player but i don't think it's as satisfying as being a franchise fan first