Do the Utah Jazz Have the Most Ruthless Fanbase in the NBA?
I’ll be honest, I love what the Utah Jazz have done so far this season.
After they lost Gordon Hayward to the Celtics (haha) last Summer, nobody expected them to make the playoffs. And so far, they’ve knocked off an Oklahoma City Thunder team that was projected to make the Western Conference Finals at the beginning of the season and are now tied 1-1 with the Houston Rockets in Round 2. Donovan Mitchell has been sensational in his rookie year, which has been a key factor to their success. Just look at this:
Donovan Mitchell brought the dunk contest to the playoffs 😳 pic.twitter.com/Jy6KJX5Gfm
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) May 3, 2018
But is Mitchell the only thing fueling this Utah Jazz playoff run? Or is it the group of absolute savages that fill up Vivid Smart Home Arena for every Jazz home game? The recent success of the Jazz has turned the kind-hearted citizens of Utah into a bunch of crazy people who just don’t give a shit about anything. Exhibit A:
Thunder-Jazz had everything.
Even Mitt Romney taunting Russ 😂 pic.twitter.com/oLXND9ZjjP
— NBA on ESPN (@ESPNNBA) April 24, 2018
Former Presidential candidate Mitt Romney got in the face of known psychopath Russell Westbrook and TAUNTED HIM after Westbrook picked up his fourth foul. You have to be insane to taunt a guy like Westbrook, which leads me to Exhibit B:
Thunder’s Russell Westbrook takes exception to Utah fan after Game 6 loss to Jazz pic.twitter.com/Ef1cgEhVm4
— Ben Golliver (@BenGolliver) April 28, 2018
Russell Westbrook BLASTS OFF on Jazz fans after Game 6 loss: “I don’t confront fans. Fans confront me. Here in Utah, a lot of disrespectful, vulgar things are said. … It’s something that needs to be brought up… I don’t play that s—. … It needs to be put to a stop.” pic.twitter.com/FrD0cdzogI
— Ben Golliver (@BenGolliver) April 28, 2018
Pro-athletes get heckled by fans constantly, but it’s very seldom we see them retaliate. Westbrook is a different story though. We’ve seen him go at fans in the past. He just has an edge to him. But whatever that guy said to Russ really set him off, because he basically trashed the entire state of Utah afterward. Anyways, Exhibit C:
Who was in the wrong?
Retweet for the Fan
Like for James Harden pic.twitter.com/V3nJpYT6O4— DYST Now (@DYST_Now) May 3, 2018
You’ve got to have some balls to do what this guy did. He told James Harden, most-likely the leagues MVP, to his face that he’s the worst flopper in the league. RIGHT IN FRONT OF SECURITY. And again, Harden retaliated by smacking the guys phone.
This new breed of Jazz fans is uncontrollable. I wonder if they were anything like this in the 90’s when the team had Malone and Stockton. Either which way, I think Utah’s success is riding the energy of their fan base just as much as the fans are riding them right now. I don’t think they’ll beat Houston in this series, but what an exciting team man. If they can keep that core together and maybe add another piece, the West is going to have a serious problem.
-Nick Cherico (@NickCherico2)