Fansided

Interactive Twitter map shows where NBA’s favorites are

By Scott Allen

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The Los Angeles Lakers have the most fans around the country when it comes to the NBA

What should come as no surprise to NBA fans everywhere, the Los Angeles Lakers seem to be the most liked team in the country.  At least that is according to an interactive map put together on Twitter by Twitter sports.

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From the west to the midwest to the southeast to the mid-atlantic, there ware Lakers fans everywhere.  The only places in the west and midwest that seem to have few Lakers fans is in Utah, where the Utah Jazz reign supreme, and Oklahoma, where the Oklahoma City Thunder is king.

They also seem to have few fans in the northeast where the Boston Celtics rule and the upper midwest where the Chicago Bulls take Illinois, the Indiana Pacers rule Indiana, and the Detroit Pistons own Michigan.  There are some Lakers fans in those states, though.

In states where there aren’t teams, though, you can see places like Nevada and New Mexico love the Lakers.  Alaska has its share of Lakers fans too.  A huge chunk of Alaska likes the Bulls more, however.

What is amazing is that the Lakers even have fans in states where a lot of people like the Miami Heat.  They have a strong following in the southeast, but not without competition from the Lakers.

So, other than Kobe Bryant, what is the appeal?  This is a current-day map, not from the 80’s or 90’s, or even early 00’s.  The Lakers haven’t been good in several years as of late.

The Lakers even have a pretty strong fan appeal in Canada as well.  Canada by far loves the Toronto Raptors more, but sprinkled in there is the Lakers.  I probably find that the most fascinating.

Most states that have teams in them are dominated by those teams that play there, but the Lakers sneak in.  Arizona loves the Phoenix Suns, Colorado loves the Denver Nuggets, Minnesota loves the Minnesota Timberwolves, and Ohio loves the Cleveland Cavaliers.

Sports fans love winning teams, though.  Even though the Lakers aren’t a current winner, they won a lot back in the 80’s and 90’s.  It appears many still hold that fandom today.  Not many franchises can rival the storied history that the Lakers can, especially given their consistency for the most part through the decades.

I don’t know if this map will see a huge shift anytime soon but it is clear win or lose, the Lakers will always have fans everywhere.  Not many teams can say that.

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