SALT LAKE CITY — The chanting began in unison during the fourth quarter of Friday’s Jazz playoff game, as the crowd howled for a continuation foul. It was a familiar refrain, directed at referees and their perceived incompetence.
Admittedly, the chant was uncouth and classless. But it was in a close game, where these things happen.
Buy a playoff ticket and check your manners at the door.
Welcome to Vivint Arena, where the seats steeply slope all the way to the court. Fans are right on top of the action, just the way the late Larry H. Miller intended. It’s not an arena built for hockey or dirt biking. Rather, it’s a nicely maintained pit.
With Game 4 on Sunday, it’s easy to predict how fans will react if the Jazz lose and fall behind 3-1. A defeat would virtually assure failure in the best-of-seven series. Note to Clippers: Get ready for some of the Sunday-best cursing you’ll ever hear.
Whether it’s worse than anywhere else is debatable. Chris Paul, the Clippers' All-Star guard, said this week that Jazz fans were “true homers” — in a good way. Jazz fans bring it early and often.
One out-of-town media member told me last week, “I love Salt Lake. It’s a lovely city. And the nicest people in the world. But their fans …”
He grimaced.
“Worst in the league?” I said, bringing up Sacramento, San Antonio and Oklahoma City as possible contenders.
He winced, shaking his head, and said, “Mmmmmm. Yeah. Probably.”
“Rednecks?” I said.
Another nod.
Others haven’t been nearly that kind. T.J. Simers, late of the L.A. Times, once called Salt Lake “the most miserable place on Earth.” He went on to say the Jazz arena “is what you might expect if they had an annual convention for serial killers.”
Rick Bucher, formerly of ESPN radio, once said, "They are Mormons, and they are in Salt Lake, and there is nothing else there. You know, you gotta smile and be happy all the time. This is the one opportunity for people to get vicious."
He afterward apologized for connecting Jazz fandom with Mormondom, which aren’t the same thing. Usually.
Either way, Jazz fans have a reputation. Former Golden State Warrior Stephen Jackson claimed to have endured racist taunts from the crowd, though that could be questioned on two counts. First, the majority of players on most NBA teams are African-American, Jazz included. Why make catcalls that are offensive to your own team?
Second, Jackson isn’t exactly a great eyewitness, given his history with law enforcement.
Still, of 19,911 fans, someone could have overstepped boundaries. For instance, the viral picture of a Jazz fan taunting Derek Fisher in the playoffs by covering one eye with his hand, apparently in reference to Fisher’s daughter, who had retinoblastoma.
Whether Utah has the worst crowd or not, it could have some of the worst-behaved individuals.
Friday at Vivint Arena, it was business as usual in some ways. The sound system was tuned to “explode” but the signage was only moderated. One sign along the baseline simply said, “NOT IN OUR HOUSE.”
I asked Ron Boone, who has attended thousands of games on the road in his years as a Jazz analyst, if Jazz fans are the league’s worst.
“No, no, I don’t think so,” Boone said. He went on to say the configuration of the arena makes it so players can hear more. I brought up claims of racism and asked Boone if he, who is African-American, had ever heard such talk.
“I never heard anything racial. Maybe they have and I just haven’t heard it. I’m not that close to the floor anymore. But I think fans are so close to the players … they hear it (everything) more. And fans are rude everywhere.”
I then checked with John Sudbury, a season ticket-holder for nearly four decades, and first-rate opponent-baiter. Asked about claims of racial taunts, Sudbury flatly said, “I call that a lie.”
He went on to say the combative former Houston Rocket Vernon Maxwell, once went into the stands in Portland, claiming he been subjected to racial taunts.
“Then he came down to me (in Salt Lake) and said, “I like to play here because everybody is against me,” Sudbury said.
Sudbury continued, “Not that anybody is racial down here, they’re just rooting against a team. You can talk about the game, the uniform, missed shots, the fact they can’t rebound or guard. But you don’t say anything personal.”
Then again, when it’s the playoffs, everything’s personal, right?