The FanSided 250 came out on November 10th, and the Memphis Grizzlies ranked fairly high, thanks in part to a couple of great drafts.
The Memphis Grizzlies, Minnesota Timberwolves, The New York Knicks, what do all these have in common? They’re all looking to create a new era for their franchise. Now, granted, each team seems to be in a different spot in that process; while the Timberwolves seem ready to make a run for the playoffs, the Grizzlies are at the start of a rebuilding process (and I don’t even really know what the Knicks are doing right now).
But those three teams all have another thing in common: they each made the list of the best fans in the FanSided 250, and Memphis placed above Minnesota but below New York at 161. One big reason for the Grizzlies to find themselves with a fairly high ranking is that, for the last two years, the front office has found some huge success in who they draft.
In the 2018 NBA draft, the Memphis Grizzlies picked Jaren Jackson Jr. fourth overall, and Jevon Carter 32nd overall. Meanwhile, in the same draft, the Knicks selected Kevin Knox ninth overall and Mitchell Robinson 36th overall.
Following that, in the 2019 NBA draft, Memphis selected Ja Morant second overall and later received the 21st overall pick in Brandon Clarke, as part of a trade to the Oklahoma City Thunder. In the same draft, New York choose RJ Barrett third overall and Kyle Guy 55th overall.
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Despite these two great offseasons for Memphis (compared to one where New York decided to buy an all-big lineup), Memphis still ranked almost 100 spots lower than the Knicks. The Grizzlies ended up at the 161 spot, where as the Knicks had the 95th spot. This begs the question, do the Grizzlies deserve to be ranked below the Knicks?
No, obviously not.
The FanSided 250 is a comprehensive list of the best fan bases in the world, not just in sports, but in everything that could have a fandom. This includes celebrities, TV shows, movies, and of course, sports teams. It’s format has been changed in recent years, from the time when it was called the Fandom 250.
The rankings of each fandom was decided by the FanSided editorial team, and it was released on Tuesday, Nov. 10. As part of their decision, the editorial panel included three areas: fan vote, search score, and social following.
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With this, however, it’s a wonder that the Knicks ranked above the Grizzlies. After all, their fans aren’t exactly known for being the most loyal. After all, these are fans who wore paper bags on their heads to games, booed at the selection of both Kevin Knox and Kristaps Porzingis, and have routinely called for the firing of executives after just two or three poor years.
This fan base who seem to lack faith in their front office showed up in the worst way in the fan vote for NBA teams, leaving New York behind in the rankings. Meanwhile, Memphis got first place.
As far as the second criterion, the Grizzlies and Knicks had the exact same search score of 57.4. The only place where the Knicks actually beat the Grizzlies was in the social follow, where New York more than double Memphis’ 3.7 million with their own 8 million. However, this is only to be expected due to the large market that the Knicks are in, and the worldwide recognition the both the team and MSG gets. But just because their fan base is large, does not mean that it’s a high quality.
Just because a fan base is big and has a lot of turnover doesn’t mean that they are loyal. Grizzlies fans have stuck around through the success of the grit ‘n grind team, and also the failure of the grit ‘n grind team. However, these fans (for the most part) have stood behind their team and supported their players, even when they go to a new team. There’s no obvious reason that the Knicks should rank above the Grizzlies, even if the fan base is bigger. Hopefully, over the years the team can prove that.