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| Courtesy of Philadunkia. |
A war on the court is now boiling over to a war of words.
After the Celtics took Game 5 and a 3-2 series lead, Kevin Garnett took a little shot at Philadelphia fans as the series heads back to the City Of Brotherly Love.
When asked about the loyalty of Sixers fans in comparison to Celtics fans, KG had this to say: "Not even close,” Garnett said. “[In Boston] you got fans and [in Philadelphia] you got fair-weather fans. Take that how you want.”
As usual, quite a few Philadelphia fans became quite defensive, especially some local beat writers. Garnett has always been known to stir the pot, and is hated on by every fan base, minus those in Minnesota and Boston.
But if you step back a second and put your Sixers rally towel down, Garnett is absolutely correct. Especially in the Sixers case, Philadelphia is chock full of "fair-weather" fans. Yes, there will always be die hard fans, like Alan Horwitz, the guy you usually find humping the hardwood floor next to the Sixers bench.
However, most Sixers fans hopped right on the bandwagon this year, then got off, then proceeded back on. When the Sixers got off to their hot, early season start, Philadelphia was pretty riled up over their basketball team.. They were back, the fans were back, and all was good.
And then the Sixers took a tumble. They could not buy a win towards the end of the season, and all the hype and momentum surrounding the team was completely gone. As they clung to a one game lead over Milwaukee for the final Playoff spot in the East, people were ready for another Playoff without Philadelphia in it.
The Sixers clung on, and faced the Bulls in the First round. After Chicago lost Derrick Rose to an ACL tear in Game 1, it was the Sixers series to lose. Fans noticed too. They came piling into the Wells Fargo Center (most capitalizing off of $9 tickets on Stubhub), and watched the Sixers down the Bulls in 6 games.
It was incredible, the Sixers advancing past the first round of the Playoffs since 2002-2003. At this point, the rough stretch of seasons Philadelphia endured seemed to be forgotten. The last place teams in the Atlantic Division, the coaching carousel of 2003-2004, and many other awful times had vanished in thin air.
Which most likely brought on Garnett's comments. Nobody was attending Sixers games as they struggled through the mid 2000s. If you need any reinforcement, check out the NBA attendance records.
Now, no blame should be placed on Sixers fans here. Who wants to spend $50 on tickets per person, plus another $25 just to eat to watch your team lose? When your team puts out an awful product, you have every right not to want to blow your money.
But when you get called out because of it, you have to own up.
That is how it is in Philadelphia, and any other sports city.
Your team sucks, you don't want to go watch them play, simple as that. The same case can be made for Boston before the Big 3 era.
While Paul Pierce was trying to put the Celtics on his back, Boston couldn't put butts in the seat. When Ray Allen and Garnett joined the party, every and their mother was out at TD Garden watching their Celtics play.
The argument can be thrown back in Garnett's face, but that would be avoiding the point.
Fess up Philadelphia, we put the Sixers on the back burner for 6 years. Nobody cared about an under achieving team with no ability to pull in superstars.
But now that we're a few games from the Eastern Conference finals, Wells Fargo Center is packed with Iguodala jerseys, and Jrue Holiday and Evan Turner shirseys.
It is fine to want to support your local team when they are winning.
Just don't act like you were there when they were losing.
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