New Orleans Pelicans: Why so much anger in the fan base?

If you follow the New Orleans Pelicans on Twitter, then you know that it has been pretty toxic lately.

Fans are angry over the team’s perceived lack of success and the only thing they can agree upon is collective anger.

There are several factions providing most of the negativity, which I recently compared to the street gangs from the classic film, The Warriors.

As many of you already know, I cover several teams in the NBA and interact with a lot of fanbases. All of them have their angry fans, as social media just seems to bring out the worst in people, but the New Orleans Pelicans definitely have the angriest fan base that I deal with on a regular basis.

I cover much worse teams with much less talent whose fanbases are actually excited about their development and get this, ENJOY watching basketball. It’s crazy, I know.

So why are the fans of the New Orleans Pelicans so angry?

New Orleans Pelicans: Fans worry about the future after Anthony Davis

First of all, I think most Pelicans’ fans are probably reasonable people and I interact with a lot of cool ones every day. Social media tends to reward negativity, so of course, the loudest angriest fans get the most clicks.

I also get why the fans are impatient. The Pelicans have had very little success as a franchise and have watched guys like Anthony Davis flee for greener pastures and win titles.

Expectations were probably a tad high coming into this season, but I get why fans get upset watching this team, as they are not fundamentally sound, make dumb mistakes, can’t hold leads, make free throws or execute basic plays at times.

I get it, but the amount of negativity lately has been insane, as everyone on social media is just ripping each other’s heads off, and to be honest, it’s getting tiring.

New Orleans Pelicans: Reasons to be happy

Do these fans realize that there are going to be 13 other lottery teams this season who would trade rosters with the Pels in a heartbeat?

The Pelicans have a generational superstar who is 20-years-old and fans don’t even seem to enjoy watching him play, instead picking apart every tiny flaw in his game, complaining that he is not already an elite defender and essentially not perfect. At age 20.

Just about every other team in the NBA would trade any guy on their roster for Zion Williamson. Could you just enjoy watching him for five minutes before tearing him down? I just don’t get it.

Same with Brandon Ingram, whose “fit” has become the new “spacing” for obsessive fans who are convinced that a 23-year-old All-Star can’t work with Zion because he isn’t an “elite” defender.

Multiple “fans” accosted me yesterday after I wrote an article about Zion and B.I.’s durability and production, telling me that they should trade Ingram immediately. It’s madness.

Fans should also realize that rebuilds don’t happen in one season, even if you have great young talent. It takes time and the Pelicans now have a much better understanding of what they will need to put around Zion Williamson.

The New Orleans Pelicans are going to be good very soon, have two young stars and more draft capital than just about any team in the NBA to make trades.

They could have a radically new roster by next season and make a huge leap as a team.

It didn’t happen this year, and I understand the frustration, but it’s also nice to just watch and enjoy basketball sometimes without all of the anger.

I’m sure this will draw even more anger from the same groups, and I apologize to all of the Pels’ fans who get it, and who actually enjoy watching and cheering for their team.

Stan culture is ruining NBA fandom online and has turned Pelicans’ Twitter into a cesspool of negativity that is really not warranted.