With the second round of the playoffs approaching the end, tension is mounting among the candidates for the title race. But are they supported by their fans, or also by the rest of the country? A study was recently published on the subject, and two franchises are clearly hated by the American public.
If the Nuggets were swept by Utah, there are still three series to be completed in these conference semifinals. The majority of franchises being on vacation, their respective fans logically have the leisure to choose a new favorite in the title race, in order to bet on the future champion for example.
In order to estimate the popularity of the remaining franchises, the site BetOnline.ag therefore had fun identifying the tweets involving open support for a franchise, since the start of the second round. The results were then distributed among the country’s 50 states, resulting in the following map:
The Suns’ journey has obviously earned them an impressive rating with the American public, with no less than 17 states supporting them in the race for the title. The Bucks, Sixers and Jazz are all three at 8 states, while Atlanta is at 5. The most interesting thing about this poll, however, is to see that the Nets and Clippers are by far the bottom of the standings, with only 2 US states standing behind them.
In the case of Brooklyn, this is certainly related to the superteam mounted by the executives, especially since it includes players like Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving and James Harden. They all have a hell of a lot of haters across the country, including the Slim Reaper. The construction of Steve Nash’s squad bothers a lot of people, which explains the result.
As for the Clippers, it’s a little more vague, but we can connect this disenchantment with the fact that Californians still remain in the shadow of the Lakers in terms of aura. Moreover, the sometimes arrogant attitude of Tyronn Lue’s men did nothing to increase their rating with the public. No wonder many people favor Utah.
It’s official, it’s not from the mainstream that the Nets and Clippers will get support in the title race. We will see if the disenchantment will be justified by the end of the postseason.
