The world may have moved away from burning people at the stake for the most part, but the metaphorical practice burning of a person by burning their likeness still persists. Be it burning straw effigies or burning jerseys, fans have come up with creative and sometimes violent ways to register protest and disappointment with public figures.
Few fields in life inspire as raw and emotional response as sports. We place sports stars on a pedestal and are quick to knock them off of it as well. In politics, people can find self-expression by casting a vote. But in sports, one finds it difficult to influence any outcome. Billboards exhorting/enticing players to a city can only go so far. Sometimes fans go a step further and set fire to a jersey purchased by their hard earned cash.
When someone like Michael Jordan or Allen Iverson changed teams and came back to play against their old team, they were greeted with roars. Not every player enjoys that. Here are six NBA players who would have felt the need of a fire extinguisher when fans went wild:
6) Dwyane Wade
Recently, in some isolated cases, fans have even burned Dwyane Wade's jersey, which just goes to show that some fans will burn anything. Not to say that other burnings are justified, but at least a half-hearted justification can be put forward for the other cases. Dwyane Wade on the other hand pretty much made Miami Heat.
And they ended up lowballing him with a poor offer. His presence attracted Shaq, and they won a title in 2006. Later he got LeBron James and Chris Bosh, the latter is the only one of the Heatles to still remain with Miami. By all accounts, Wade is responsible for bringing the only three titles which Miami enjoys. And he’s leaving the team because he didn’t get the respect he deserves from the organization at the time of negotiating a contract
5) Ray Allen
Ray Allen is a cold-blooded marksman who has torn the hearts out of many fanbases. He won a title with the Celtics in 2008 but that didn’t make him immune to the scorn of fans when he left for Miami. Allen didn't just leave Boston, he also broke some friendships along the way of his departure. It was reported to be a messy breakup between the star shooter and some teammates. Rajon Rondo, in particular, isn't even on speaking terms with Allen. Nor is Kevin Garnett.
One could safely conclude that Allen wasn’t very popular with his teammates. When he played against Boston as a member of the Heat and tried to greet his old team, Kevin Garnett pretended he didn’t exist. Paul Pierce has gone on record and stated that Allen wasn’t really one of the crowd and did his own thing for the most part.
In hindsight, Allen has nailed quite a few daggers as a member of the Miami Heat. The Boston fans at least know the value of something when it is gone.
4) Kevin Love
The Minnesota Timberwolves have produced two superstar forwards in the recent past, and both have moved away from the team after a few years. Kevin Garnett shouldered the franchise for 12 years before leaving for the Boston Celtics where he won a ring. He's still beloved in Minnesota, where he's made a comeback two years ago. Kevin Love, the second superstar forward to move from the Wolves, isn't so lucky.
A player can't be faulted for wanting to leave if he's saddled with a team which has no short-term prospects of winning. Doubly so if the organisation whiffs on paying you. Kevin Love wanted to be with the Timberwolves and sought a five-year deal. But they decided to hedge their bets and give him a four-year deal instead.
"I was willing to make a commitment for five years. They thought otherwise," Love said. Clearly, he was none too happy with how his situation was handled.
That being said if you really must burn a jersey, burn it the way these fans burn Kevin Love's jersey:
3) Dwight Howard
Dwight Howard has been a solid center in the league for over a decade, even leading the Orlando Magic to the NBA Finals in 2009. It is unfortunate that during his tenure he's ended up disappointing some fan bases. The primary gripe against him has been his cheerfulness. A superstar who enjoys what he does and shows it isn't seen as serious for the most part and some would say that Howard's play reflected that as well.
When he left the Magic, his jersey was burned. When he left the Lakers, arsonists let out a whoop and a yell and jumped for their lighters. After forest fires, Howard seems to be one of the leading causes of kindling flames.
Howard spent his prime in Orlando, and it is not unreasonable to hope for fans to be a tad more gracious after giving them so much. But Howard was in part responsible for the firing of Stan Van Gundy, and for one of the most awkward press moments of all time in NBA history where he came and put a shoulder around his coach just Van Gundy had finished informing the press of Howard’s intention to get him fired.
2) Kevin Durant
We only build them up to watch them fall. Or as some cop put it, "You either die a hero or live long enough to become the villain." Even though Kevin Durant tried to make his exit as classy as possible, the fact remains that he is: a) Joining a rival who knocked him out in 7 games. b) Joining the greatest regular season team which will be amazing without him as well. c) Jumping ship after deriding others for doing so. d) Leaving behind an excellent title contender and jettisoning their chances.
Every other star on this list left a team which had clearly peaked. Durant is the only one who's left a team which was on the cusp of greatness. That being said, his move to the Warriors ought to result in a unique brand of beautiful basketball. No team has ever fielded three such prolific shooters on the floor, and the Warriors have an opportunity to develop into a true dynasty.
1) LeBron James
LeBron James basically wrote the book on things not to do when leaving a team. Rather than make the announcement in a self-effacing way and display gratitude, he instead decided to announce his decision with an hour-long live TV special. Then after joining his new team, instead of going into damage control mode, he held a WWE style extravaganza where he made the infamous "Not one, not two, not three..." speech.
The thing about burning LeBron's jersey is that you never know when you may need it again. His return to the Cleveland Cavaliers probably led to some awkward moments among those fans who had burnt his jersey,
