Nets keep drawing fans to games during rebuild even if theyre rooting for star-studded opponents
When the Nets come back off the road, they’ll welcome reigning champion Boston to Barclays Center.And surely hordes of green-and-white clad fans as well. The crowd promises to be electric.
And surprisingly huge. And unsurprisingly split. In the midst of this tanking season, people around the Nets have privately admitted surprise at the size of the crowds they’ve continued to draw — attendance on par with their star-studded Big 3 campaigns of years ago.They’re pleasantly surprised to have been wrong: You can rebuild in New York. Now comes the long-range task of converting all of those paying basketball fans into proud Brooklyn fans.That’s going to be an extended process, growing young kids into lifelong Nets fans, getting ingrained with the Brooklyn community at-large and, perhaps most of all, building a winning team again. Cam Thomas, shockingly one of the longer-tenured Nets despite still being just 23, has seen steps in the right direction since his 2021 arrival.
Baby steps, but steps nonetheless. “I’ve noticed a difference in the vibe from then to now, that they seem more in tune with how we are doing,” Thomas told The Post before the Nets’ 116-110 loss to the Bulls Thursday night in Chicago.“It’s still the same somewhat, but they’re definitely more in tune with us.
It’s not as bad as it was my rookie year. “I mean, I get it: You’ve got these Hall of Famers coming into town on some of these teams, so it’s very exciting.But then they still come out to our home arena.
The guys hope that we get to win.But it’s not as bad as it used to be.
It used to be real bad, for sure.So it’s definitely gotten better.” Well, the attendance certainly has.
Even in a down year. Just look at the past two home games.The Nets drew a record 18,413 on March 6 against Golden State, their biggest crowd ever in Brooklyn.Their next home game four days later against the Lakers drew 18,215 despite a seven-game losing skid. “We’ve been ...