The Los Angeles Lakers, according to a recent study, have the best fan base in the NBA.
The Los Angeles Lakers have had a great start to the 2019-20 season. They currently have the best record in the NBA at 12-2, sitting atop the Western Conference with 1.5 game lead. It has been a while since the Lakers were in this position.
This is the best start the Lakers have had in a long time. The team is currently riding a streak of six years that the team has not qualified for the playoffs. That is the longest streak in franchise history, as they missed the playoffs only five times in their franchise history before that.
To say that Lakers fans aren’t used to losing would be an understatement. Despite that, they have remained the best fan base in the NBA.
According to a recent study done, the Lakers have the most loyal and engaged fans in the league. The study used fan equity, road equity and social equity in the study, which were all controlled for variables such as market size.
The Lakers led the league in two of those categories; road equity and social equity. They finished second in fan equity, trailing only the New York Knicks, who finished seventh overall.
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Rounding out the top-five along with the Lakers were the Golden State Warriors, Chicago Bulls, Boston Celtics and Cleveland Cavaliers. The bottom five were the Detroit Pistons, Brooklyn Nets, Charlotte Hornets, Memphis Grizzlies and Washington Wizards. The rival LA Clippers finished 24th.
Lakers fans have had to deal with some bad basketball in recent years. They have been spoiled by success throughout the team’s history but stayed around waiting for a winner. Fans expect to see a winning product on the court and are happy to see one again this season behind LeBron James and Anthony Davis.
The newest dynamic duo to don purple and gold have fans really excited about what could come. James is leading the league in assists, fully embracing his role as the de facto point guard. Davis has been everything he has been advertised as, dominating the paint on both ends of the court.
Frank Vogel has done a great job filling in the spaces between his two stars despite some injuries to DeMarcus Cousins, Rajon Rondo, Kyle Kuzma and Avery Bradley. They have gotten great production from role players such as Dwight Howard, who has seemingly erased the memories from his first season with the Lakers and has reinvented himself this season with the Lakers.
The Lakers should remain atop that list for the foreseeable future. If the longest drought in franchise history without a playoff appearance didn’t push fans away, they are here for the long haul.