NBA: 6 players whose jerseys were burned by fans
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.
Relationships are important people!
— DWade (@DwyaneWade) July 4, 2016
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
The burning of jerseys continues. This time, it's in Miami. https://t.co/RdTusFY1b0
— FOX Sports (@FOXSports) July 7, 2016