Andrew Buller-Russ
Which NBA arena has the best fans? That’s clearly a subjective question that will never receive a uniform response. It’s a unique topic, as different fanbases likely have their own opinions on the matter. But so do NBA players, and they reportedly feel the Boston Celtics’ TD Garden is the arena with the best fans.
That’s the takeaway from The Athletic‘s NBA player poll, which asked 103 current NBA players, “Which arena has the best fans?”
According to the poll, 18% of the respondents named TD Garden as the host with the best fans. Coincidentally enough, the Celtics also ranked fifth in their same poll when asking which arena has the worst fans. As mentioned, these are questions that naturally have a wide range of responses.
Yet, for the Celtics to be on both the best and worst end of the spectrum makes sense. The poll didn’t specify anything like which NBA arena is the loudest or which fans do the best job of filling up the arena. Instead, they left the interpretation up to the players, leaving plenty of leeway.
While the poll was conducted anonymously, one unnamed player was willing to offer a specific response as to why TD Garden may be so well regarded.
“I know they get a lot of s— for crossing the lines sometimes but in terms of a hostile environment, I would say Boston. If you’re a competitor and you like playing on the road, you know everybody in the building is going to be like, ‘F— you’ or ‘I hate you.’ It’s always a good environment. Every time I’ve played there it’s been like that.”
Anonymous current NBA player on environment at TD Garden
Another player chimed in with a more pessimistic outlook on TD Garden, saying, “It’s a little bit of everything, from the heckling to, of course, the racial stuff. There’s a lot of things that they do.”
Related: New York Knicks and Atlanta Hawks stars voted most overrated by fellow NBA players
Sacramento Kings’ Golden 1 Center held in high regard
After TD Garden, the Sacramento Kings’ Golden 1 Center also received a lot of votes, coming in at second place with 12.1% of the 103 current NBA players polled.
- TD Garden, Boston Celtics – 18%
- Golden 1 Center, Sacramento Kings – 12.1%
- Chase Center, Golden State Warriors – 9.7%
- Madison Square Garden, New York Knicks – 9.7%
- Wells Fargo Center, Philadelphia 76ers – 6.8%
- Paycom Center, Oklahoma City Thunder – 5.8%
- Scotiabank Arena, Toronto Raptors – 4.9%
- Other – 4.9%
At the center of the largest sports market in America, it comes as no surprise to see MSG ranked highly. It’s also no surprise to see non-contenders featured in this list. Aside from the Thunder and Raptors, six of these seven teams reached the NBA Playoffs. Yet, even the Thunder and Raptors reached the Play-In Tournament.
Basically, this is the latest indication that teams need to field a competitive roster to give their local fanbases a reason to show up for all 41 home games. As we see from the results above, that’s when arenas are at their very best.
