The buzz around Barclays Center before tipoff wasn’t about a win or a loss, it was about the future. A sellout crowd of 17,548 fans packed into Barclays Center on Friday night as the Brooklyn Nets hosted
their first home game of the season, and even before tip-off, the vibe was all about optimism.
“I’m expecting a lot of intensity,” said a young fan named Eddie, who stood outside the Barclays Center wearing a Nets cap. “And I’m expecting the fans to start yelling after every bucket. A lot of excitement.”
The Nets would go on to lose 131-124 to the Cleveland Cavaliers, but the scoreboard didn’t tell the full story. Brooklyn trailed by 25 in the third quarter and nearly fought all the way back to make it interesting late in the game, the kind of fight that keeps a fanbase hopeful during a rebuilding year.
“The Nets are a growing team,” said Isa, a 22-year-old season-ticket holder. “We’re probably going to kill it next season. We have a lot of potential. It’s going to be a great night.”
One longtime fan named Mike, who’s been attending games since the franchise played as the New Jersey Americans in the Teaneck Armory, explained that he is approaching the season with a cautiously optimistic attitude. “They’ll win a handful of games, hopefully more than last year. But by the way everybody is writing about them, it doesn’t feel like it,” he said.
Then he paused and cracked a smile. “When young players are hyped a lot, sometimes they develop and turn out to be really good, but a lot of the time they disappear. But I’m sure at least one of these guys will be in it for the long run.”
That kind of attitude filled the air on opening night, fans realistic about the rebuild but still ready to believe, looking for any reason to get excited. Another fan, also named Mike, said, “I have high hopes for them. I hope all these new players bring the energy they need. Anything is possible. They had Kyrie, KD, and Harden, so they showed they can acquire stars when the time is right.”
And that’s really what this team represents, patience with purpose. A team that can lose a game but still make 17,000 people stand and cheer in the fourth quarter because of how they played, not just what the score was.
“I think this team is going to age really well,” Eddie added. “If they can keep the young guys and maybe add a couple of role players, another big, they can become contenders in the next 2–3 years.”
The numbers back up the belief. The 17,548 fans who showed up for this opener slightly topped Brooklyn’s average attendance from last season, showing fans are still invested for the long haul
It wasn’t a win. But if the Nets play with the same kind of fight they showed Friday, and if the fans keep showing up like this, it might not be long before that belief turns into something real.
