Sixers vs. Nets. Who Went and Why? A VICE Sports Investigation

A March 15 tilt in Brooklyn between the 9-57 76ers and the 18-48 Nets most likely wasn't going to pack the Barclays Center. Attendees had no way of knowing that Bojan Bogdanovic would go insane, draining 44 points to match the all-time Nets total by a foreign player, held by the sainted Drazen Petrovich, who dropped his "double quatro" on Hakeem Olajuwon's Rockets in 1993. It was astounding and unanticipated that Bodgy, who is averaging 10.5 ppg this season, was able to dial up his jersey number.

I went to to find out what kind of fan voluntarily takes in a game between the Nets and Sixers, the two worst teams in the Eastern Conference. It was a pleasant enough spring evening, but from a basketball standpoint, there are bigger things coming to Barclays Center. The arena is hosting the likes of Villanova, Iowa, West Virginia, and Notre Dame in the NCAA tourney this weekend. And speaking of Irishmen fighting, St. Patrick's Day is upon us, which as you may have heard, is a rather big drinking affair here in Gotham City. Maybe Tuesday's NBA game was a boozehound warm-up, but that's a long stretch to the end of the weekend.

Point being, there were more appealing options.

As a lifelong Sixers fella, I actually wanted to see just how bad they looked in person with Nerlens Noel and Jahlil Okafor on the floor together. (Turns out, I'm not a diehard. I had no idea Okafor was out for the year. It's not easy closely following this version of the Sixers.) I was also hoping to see the Sixers win the season series, as they had beaten the Nets 95-89—to end a 13-game losing streak—the previous Friday. So that would've been my reasoning. But without the added bonus of an assignment, would I have gone? I would not have gone.

Quick recap before we meet some of folks at Barclays. It wasn't packed, and the announced attendance count of 14,560 feels dubious, but there were way more people than expected, especially in the upper deck. Waiting in line, I noticed a whole bunch of high-school age kids being chaperoned this way and that way, a lot of them were in their team's hoop gear. It seems the Nets had designated the Sixers game for a community goodwill give-away. There was also a large contingent of rowdy Sixers fans who announced their presence with irony. (More on them in a bit.) And for whatever reason, Dikembe Mutombo was courtside, flashing that million-dollar smile we all know and love. The tee shirt cannon crew was on point, hover-boarding about the court in Leprechaun get-ups to House of Pain. Oh, and a dude got down on one knee and proposed, Jumbotron-style. She said yes. The Barclays went nuts, loudest ovation of the night. Who says New Yorkers are jaded?

The game itself was more or less AAU for the Nets. They had 71 at half en route to a 131-114 win. The main excitement was whether Bogdanovic would get fifty, but his last two threes rimmed out. Still 44 ain't nothing to beef with, and fans at Barclays Center watched him set the record for most points by a Net in Brooklyn.

You Go Because You're Spontaneous and Your Warehouse Shift Ends at 3 p.m.

Peter Cooper, 27 & Noelle Olshewitz, 25

Around noon, Cooper checked the secondary ticket market, found a couple of tickets for under $30 and convinced his friend Olshewitz to drive in from Freehold, New Jersey. He's a Sixers fan, festooned in a Dr. J. jersey and a winter cap with a ball on top. She's ostensibly a Celtics fan, but adorned herself for the game in Nets yoga pants, purchased just for the occasion. "I have a pair for the Celtics, Bulls, Lakers, Knicks… not the Cavs though, fuck LeBron," she says rueing the end of the Doc Rivers Boston-era. Cooper for his part, likes the direction his team is headed in, thinks Brett Brown has them motivated most nights, loves Ish Smith, and… "The Sixers get big spreads and cover a lot," says Cooper. "It's 7.5 tonight… Maybe since It's my first game in Brooklyn, I'll put $50 on them to win outright. I can get three-to-one."

You Go Because You Have Season Tickets

Robert Smith, 25 & Ana Ontaneda, 26

"Having season tickets, it's something I always wanted to do," says Smith, an ad sales guy who bought the seats with girlfriend Ontaneda, who works in HR and is equally enamored with their purchase. "I live in Washington Heights, an hour fifteen home after the games," she says. "That's dedication, right?" So far, they've only missed one game and expect to finish the year 40 of 41. "Some nights I might want to go home or hit the gym, but once I'm here I enjoy it," says Smith. "Watching NBA basketball is certainly not a chore, and I feel like the Nets give a good effort. I got to see Steph Curry and Kobe's farewell game. Even when the Nets get out-chanted by other fans, which is embarrassing, it's worth it."

Smith and Ontaneda embrace the chaos as it were, one night they won an in-game Instagram #MyBKPride contest that netted them a free camera and seats up close. They also took advantage of a free team-sponsored trip to the game in Philly last week. And they'll be back next year.

"The Nets fired the GM and lowered our seat price from $35 to $27, so we signed up again, hopefully to be part of building a winning culture," says Smith. "The Knicks suck too and their fans are paying way more just for Madison Square Garden history."

You Go Because You Drove 711 Miles to see Some Ball

Drew Baird, 22 & Mitchell Williams, 22

It's spring break at the University of Tennessee, so Baird and Williams decided to drive to the Big Apple and take in sporting events. They play club soccer, so they went and had "an absolute blast" at Sunday's NYC FC game at Yankee Stadium, but an NBA game was the centerpiece. "We looked at both arenas," says Baird. "At MSG, $50 bucks put us way up top, but in Brooklyn it got us a suite." Williams confirmed, "Even with the $10 beers, it's a hell of a deal."

They were up until dawn the previous night, having taken the train on an semi-ill-fated trip to Coney Island to see where Mr. Robot is filmed. "Nobody told us Coney Island is closed in the winter," says Baird. "Riding the subway at dawn was a cool experience though."

You Go Because the Food is Plentiful

Randy Chan, 26 & Phanite Prak, 35

When a co-worker gives you free tickets to a suite, and the halftime buffet is flush, what do you do? You eat, duh. NYPD officer Chan and insurance supervisor Prak had a table full of tacos, heroes, and the potential for a whole lot more. At the moment we spoke, the game was secondary to a mountain of garlic fries.

"I like the Nets, love Brook Lopez and never wanted him to be traded, but there is no way I would buy a ticket to see them play the Sixers," says Prak, originally from Providence, RI. "The food is great and if the ticket doesn't cost anything? Even if it's Philly, you take it."

Long Island native Chan has been a Nets fan going back to Jason Kidd, Kerry Kittles, and Keith Van Horn—whose name drew a dismissive side-eye from Prak—but he has special affection for the embattled arena beyond the grub. "I was part of the first police academy class to graduate in this building," Officer Chan says. "I like it here. The Barclays Center means something to me."

You Go Because Nobody's Gonna Go in Your Place

Aquan Johnson, 37 & Melvin Poe, 35

A game featuring teams this bad means somebody is stuck holding the pre-purchased ticket bag. For Johnson and Poe, both self-employed, hitting up the 40-40 Club is the sole raison d'être for showing up. "I've had season tickets for three years, I never even go to the seats," says Johnson. "I come have a drink, get something out of it anyway." After taking a big slug from his plastic cup, Poe added, "I tag along because Barclays makes the best Patron margaritas around. And by us showing up, it means somebody has a job." Johnson interjected, "I can't make a dollar on these tickets, you can't give these shits away. The Nets suck, I want my money back." To which Poe proclaimed, "I would like to add I am here to support my boy's refund claim…"

You Go Because That's Where the 76ers are Playing and You've Got Jokes

Colin Nolan, 27

"You hear us chanting, 'We've Got Draft Picks! We've Got Draft Picks!' So good. Win or lose, we win," says Nolan, a Philadelphia accountant analyst who came up the Turnpike as part of a Liberty Ballers road trip. "We're in way better shape than the Nets. Maybe not tonight, but we've got hope, right?" The score didn't seem to matter one iota to Nolan and his clan, all rocking multiple pieces of Sixers flair, and making mischief with other rallying cries like "Trust the Pro-cess!" and "Rob-in's Bet-ter!" The party started at 2 pm when they came up 100 strong, on two buses, and took over McMahon's across the street. "It's been a great night. Even with the score, I can't complain in this beautiful building," says Nolan. "It's got the cleanest arena bathrooms I've ever seen."

You Go Because You Always Go

Wesley Johnson, 50

Back in the day, Johnson used to go to Nets games at Nassau Coliseum. Even when they played in New Jersey, he bought a partial ticket package, and traveled out from Brooklyn. "Those were the good years, the Jason Kidd years, the NBA Finals years," Johnson says. When the Nets moved ten minutes away, he went bigger and has been a full season ticket holder since day one. He was wearing the inaugural night in Brooklyn tee-shirt to prove it.

"I love basketball. Love it. I came to a Sixers game, right? Here, let me show you—" Johnson rolled up his sleeve to reveal a large tattoo of an official NBA basketball, and a smaller one of the Nets logo, fitting his priorities. "So long as I can afford it, I'll come to watch LeBron, Kevin Durant, the Knicks. It doesn't have anything to do with the product the Nets put on the floor."

You Go Because You've Never Gone

Fumihiko Sugino, 37

Sitting solo in the last row of an upper deck section is Fumihiko Sugino, intently watching his first ever NBA game. Originally from Osaka Japan, the talented portrait photographer has lived in Astoria for eleven years, but even as a basketball fan, never made it inside an arena until he seized the moment. "I was at a nearby friend's house and was walking to the train station at around 7:15. A man approached me and said he had a ticket for twenty dollars, so here I am," he says. "I am enjoying the game. That man on the Nets can really shoot."

He certainly can, Mr. Sugino.

Why do you go to an NBA game featuring two going-nowhere franchises? Because it's basketball. Because you can. Because you never know what's going to happen.