The Miami Heat are in a win and you’re in situation in the Eastern Conference. Despite Jimmy Butler being out with an injury, Miami is playing host to the Chicago Bulls on Friday night in the final game of the Eastern Conference Play-In Tournament, with the winner securing the 8-seed and a matchup with the Boston Celtics in the first round of the playoffs.
Despite the game happening in Kaseya Center, Heat fans didn’t exactly turn out in full force, which is a long-standing criticism of the fanbase. At halftime of Friday’s game, both Kendrick Perkins and Michael Wilbon of ESPN decided to take some time to call out Miami fans for not giving the team the support a game like this demands.
“I’m just a little disappointed in the fanbase of the Miami Heat. Too many open seats.”
“That’s not a great fanbase at all. It hasn’t been. They’re frontrunners. They’re frontrunners.”
Kendrick Perkins and Michael Wilbon calling out the Miami fans. pic.twitter.com/Pj5BMQypvK
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) April 20, 2024
“It’s a close game, it’s win or go home, I’m just a little disappointed in the fanbase of the Miami Heat,” Perkins said. “It’s too many open seats in there.”
“That’s not a great fanbase at all,” Wilbon replied. “It hadn’t been. They’re frontrunners, they’re frontrunners.”
Again, this is not exactly a new critique of Miami fans, and it’s probably worth mentioning here that Wilbon is a Bulls fan who knows (as we all do) that a game at the United Center would be 100 percent sold out in this situation. Having said this, if the Heat are able to take down the Bulls and get a matchup with Boston, we’re confident that building will be packed once that series begins.