On Thursday, Dime Magazine released its Top 10 rankings for the best home court advantages in the NBA. On the list were teams like the Oklahoma City Thunder (2nd), Denver Nuggets (5th), and San Antonio Spurs (7th). With loud crowds and distinct advantages of their own, still none could top the Golden State Warriors on Dime’s list.
After giving the NBA its first taste of the Oracle Arena playoff atmosphere since 2007 last season, Warrior fans have once again taken over the top spot. Here’s what Dime writer Steve Scafidi had to say about the Warriors crowd:
Undoubtedly the loudest crowd in the NBA, there is no matching the sound in the Oracle Arena by any crowd. The Golden State Warriors won 28 games at home last year, and are a team on the rise. With a new area possibly in the works, the Warriors will draw more fans with a bigger arena, which only means they will get louder, if that is even possible.
After a matchup last year with Denver in the playoffs, the Warriors crowd showed they were a true sixth man advantage and supported harder than Denver’s crowd, which may have ultimately decided the series.
The Warriors average attendance last season ranked 5th in the NBA, at 19,373 per game, according to ESPN. Though that’s in part due to the size of Oracle Arena, they also ranked in the top 10 in terms of filling arena capacity.
But again, it’s not so much the size of the crowd as it the noise it makes. In both of the teams two trips to the playoffs since the mid-1990s, the Warriors fans have stolen much of the playoff spotlight with just how loud they’ve been.
They helped will the Baron Davis-led We Believe squad past the top-ranked Dallas Mavericks in 2007, and were once again the loudest playoff crowd last season against the Spurs and Nuggets.
If you ask me, I’d say they were the most impressive, too. While some Miami Heat fans couldn’t get out of the arena fast enough in Game 6 of the NBA Finals, Warriors fans continued to support their team even after being eliminated by the Spurs.
Easy to see why Dime ranked them the top home court advantage.
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