My solution to the lame Nuggets arena experience (Serbia)

Edit: I must mention that this post is not an actual serious proposal, but it is food for thought. Our chants still suck though.

“I played in Serbia, brother,” said Nikola Jokic on how he handled the booing from Miami Heat fans in an away game in November 2021. This got me thinking, how might Jokic feel about the noise that the Nuggets fanbase makes? And I don’t think it is impressive on any level, to the point where the soulless Los Angeles Clippers might soon be the more loud and passionate fanbase upon the opening night in the Intuit Dome.

Although our fanbase is nothing to scoff at in terms of the NBA, it is in terms of global sport. This is not really our fault, but more the fault of the way American sports tickets work. The only basketball in the USA/Canada that is really comparable in any way to Europe is NCAA Divison 1 basketball at some schools, and that is really just because you have a bunch of drunk college kids all in one section, of course, it’s going to get loud. But NBA arenas? Like a shopping mall, like a food court with basketball on the side.

The reasons that I have found for this issue are as follows:

1. Business. This seems like kind of a no-shit kind of reason but think about it. One of the primary ticket clients that NBA teams have are corporations that like to entertain their clients and large customers by taking them to sporting events. This is one of the primary reasons why the Oklahoma City Thunder got stolen from Seattle, OKC was a growing place for business, but there were no professional sports teams for the suits to take their clients to. These are not the type of people that are going to be loud and cheer about what is happening on the court, no, mostly they sit in the 200 level and some sections of the 100 bowl and talk business the whole game. That is damaging for both the team and the fans, as fewer tickets are available for the actual fans, and therefore the arena will be quieter as a result. This is kind of a relationship that is hard to shake though, as business is business and these companies are the team’s most reliable clients.
2. I can count the amount of chants we have on one hand, and as far as I can tell they are universal for the whole league. Those being, “Let’s go Nuggets,” “Defense,” “Ref you suck,” and, the all-so-rare chant that someone starts and catches on (shoutout to who’s your daddy.) It’s pathetic to put it simply, despite having such a minimal number of chants, that are all incredibly easy to learn, people oftentimes don’t participate in them, usually out of embarrassment or laziness. One of the most depressing things is when Kyle Speller comes out with a guest of some sort to do the “Let’s Go Nuggets” thing with the drum, and NOBODY chants along with it.
3. People aren’t drunk enough. How could they be? It’s like $15 for a 4.2% ABV Coors Light. I know Scumbag Stan and his gang of greedy vendors aren’t going to budge on this one, but it’s worth pointing out.
4. Although our fanbase is nothing to scoff at in terms of the NBA, it is in terms of global sport. This is not our fault, but more the fault of the way American sports tickets work. The only basketball in the USA/Canada that is comparable in any way to Europe is NCAA Divison 1 basketball at some schools, and that is just because you have a bunch of drunk college kids all in one section, of course, it’s going to get loud. But NBA arenas? Like a shopping mall, like a food court with basketball on the side.
5. People in Denver are chronically late, a fair bit of my section won’t fill up until the conclusion of the first quarter. If the game starts at 7:00, that doesn’t mean to leave the house at 7:00, dumbshits.

This was a negative rant, yes, but it’s not without reason. If European arenas can have an atmosphere during a regular-season Euroleague game, that makes a Nuggets final game look pathetic, it’s time to you know, not do that.

The best example of this is a famous (https://youtu.be/nRv4GGksqXc) from some kind of broadcast where they are talking about Red Star Belgrade’s fans.

The solution that I propose is to convince the Nuggets front office to give sections 114 & 116 to the Serbians and fly their supporter groups to Denver for a season to support Jokic. This would lay out the groundwork for better American fan culture and chants.

Thank you for reading.

Edit: As someone pointed out, many of the reasons for this are Adam Silver’s fault with the whole [“NBA Fan Code of Conduct”](https://www.nba.com/nba-fan-code-of-conduct) stuff. That being said, I still do think it’s possible to provide an interesting atmosphere within these rules.

by Gluuten