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With the NBA season entering its final stages and the playoffs only around the corner, basketball fans have enjoyed a year of excitement and thrills. But which sets of supporters have had their loyalties tested the most – and which have been proven to be the least committed? We decided to find out!

In this article, we’ve uncovered the most loyal NBA fans, based on average attendances, social media following, supporter spending, and the number of times their teams are Googled. Read on to see where your team ranks!

Basketball’s five most dedicated fanbases

From last season’s Championship winner to teams hoping to book a place in this season’s playoffs, where abouts can you find the best NBA fans? We’ve identified the top five, based on our index.

1. Golden State Warriors

According to our index, the Golden State Warriors officially have the most loyal NBA fans – by quite some way - with a total supporter score of 4.842 out of 5, even with the team sitting some way short of expectation in the Western Conference.

This comes as the San Francisco franchise tops the charts for the annual number of Google searches (45.246m), overall TikTok (5.1m) and Instagram followers (28.2m), and annual fan spend ($109). However, the Warriors can only place sixth for average stadium attendances since 2017/18 (18,705), just behind the Lakers (18,742). 

2. Utah Jazz

The Utah Jazz boasts the next-best NBA fans, with an overall index score of 2.467. They rank behind only the Warriors for overall fan spend ($105) but fall short when it comes to average attendance and the number of Google searches.

Interestingly, the franchise also records the second-highest number of TikTok followers (3.9m), but has a terrible Instagram presence, with fewer fans (1.2m) than any other team on the platform. 

3. Los Angeles Lakers

The Los Angeles Lakers rank third among the teams with the most dedicated supporters, with an index score of 2.457 placing them just behind the Jazz. The Lakers boast the second-greatest Instagram following (21.4m) and have recorded a higher average attendance than all but four other franchises since 2017/18 (18,742).

Interestingly, despite topping the NBA charts with a record 17 Championship wins, the franchise can only rank seventh among all teams for the total number of annual Google searches (15.846m). Incredibly, star player LeBron James earns almost twice as many (26.880m).

4. Cleveland Cavaliers

The Cleveland Cavaliers earn a spot alongside the five best-supported NBA franchises, with an overall fan index score of 2.393. This is contributed to by the Ohio-based team having the third-strongest Instagram following (14.6m), short of just the Warriors and Lakers, and the third-highest annual revenue per fan ($98).

The Cavs’ Rock Mortgage Fieldhouse also ranks inside the ten-best attended NBA venues since 2017/18 (18,592), placing just behind the Raptors (18,638), Celtics (18,650), Warriors (18,705), and Lakers (18,742).

5. Boston Celtics

One of the game’s most successful franchises with a joint-record 17 Championship titles, the Boston Celtics round out the top five teams for fan dedication, with an index score of 2.317.

Impressively, the Celtics are the subject of more Google searches (35.84m) than all teams except the Warriors and have the fifth-highest follower count on TikTok (1.4m) and Instagram (7m). Curiously, though, the Celtics are only the seventh-best supported team by stadium attendance (18,650).

How does the rest of the NBA compare?

In sixth, the Milwaukee Bucks earn an index score of 2.082, ahead of Miami Heat (2.022) and the Dallas Mavericks (1.849), while the Chicago Bulls (1.800) and Philadelphia 76ers (1.416) round out the top ten teams by fanbase loyalty.

Meanwhile, at the other end of the table, the Minnesota Timberwolves officially have the ficklest fans, recording a disappointing index score of just 0.284. This comes despite the very real possibility of their team securing an NBA playoff place this season.

Supporters of the Atlanta Hawks (0.316) aren’t much better, though, while the Washington Wizards (0.354), Indiana Pacers (0.406), and Detroit Pistons (0.439) also have some of the worst fans in the NBA.

However, despite enduring a similar season to the Pistons, with both franchises sitting bottom of their respective conference, fans of the Houston Rockets are noticeably-better committed to supporting their team, ranking a respectable 19^th on our index.

With the business end of the NBA season fast approaching, it’s interesting to see which franchises boast the most dedicated fanbases, especially when it comes to handling disappointment and underperformance.

Whether your team’s in the mix for this year’s Championship title or not, check out all the latest NBA odds and picks, and in the meantime, head on over to the Betway blog for even more sporting insight from our team of basketball experts, including the future cost of being an NBA fan.

Methodology

This dataset ranks all NBA teams, based on how loyal their fans are. To do this, five different factors were considered.

• Average Attendance - The average attendance per game for each team during the regular season. This data was collected from the 2017/2018 season to the 2022/2023 season, not including the 2020/2021 season where figures were impacted by Covid-19.
• Search Volume - The total number of Google searches for each team in the US, between February 2022, and January 2023.
• TikTok Followers - The number of followers for the official team account on TikTok.
• Instagram Followers - The number of followers for the official team account on Instagram.
• Revenue Per Fan - The estimated revenue provided by each fan in USD.

Once the data was collected, the factors were then normalized, to provide each factor with a score between 0 and 1. The normalized values were then summed, to give each team a total score out of 5. The teams were then ranked from highest to lowest, based on their total scores.