When Kevin Garnett was introduced during the pregame ceremonies last
night, he got a little extra from the Philadelphia faithful.
Of course, if you ask KG, the fans in Philly aren’t all that
faithful. He used the term “fair-weather” to describe them, which set
off the vitriol we saw every time he touched the ball in the first
quarter of Game 6.
“Nobody was going to Celtics games five years ago until KG and them
got there,” said Dan Aiello, a Sixers fan that came from Lancaster for
Game 6. “The average fan is not going to spend their hard-earned money
to watch a crap product. That’s why the Bobcats have 4,000 fans a game.”
Aiello certainly has a point. Between 2004 and 2007, when the
Celtics were battling mediocrity, they ranked in the bottom half of the
league in attendance. The Sixers have been in the bottom third of the
league in attendance for the majority of the last nine years.
As for the effect of Garnett’s comments on the actual game, both sides were downplaying it.
“I don’t think either fan base likes each other any way, so I don’t
think it added anything,” coach Doc Rivers said. “Someone asked me that
yesterday and I said, ‘What are they going to do, hate us more?’ So,
what’s the difference?”
