Are Detroit Pistons fans stressed out? One study say Yes

A recent study says that, among NBA fans, the Detroit Pistons are among the most stressed over their team. Is this true? And why are they so stressed out?

Chill out Detroit Pistons fans, Don’t get frazzled. It’s all good.

According to a study by BetUS Sports, the Pistons have one of the most stressed out fanbases in the NBA, seventh out of 30 teams.

BetUs did other sports as well. The Tigers fans are a chill bunch, ranking just 28th out of 30 baseball teams. Apparently, Detroit sports fans get worked up into a froth over the Pistons, but are laid back on the Tigers.

So are Detroit Pistons fans more stressed out than most NBA fans?

BetUs says it used this methodology to come up with the rankings:

"Tensions are high for sports fans when it comes to the biggest games in the league, and Reddit and Twitter are safe spaces for them to let off some steam. Tons of threads are made for people to discuss their thoughts and feelings before, during, and after the games take place.We used a tool called TensiStrength and analyzed forums from every team in the Big Four pro sports to discover which fan base is officially the most stressed out."

As for the other teams on the list, most of it makes sense.

The 76ers have good reasons to be stressed, with their playoff flop and the Ben Simmons situation. The Celtics, Heat, Clippers and Hawks are hoping to have long playoff runs next season, but it is far from a sure thing.

The Cavaliers have the third most stressed fans. They have a different situation. Maybe because their team was bad last year, should be bad this year and will be bad for the foreseeable future, their fans could be all worked up.

The least stressed, according to the survey, are Chicago Bulls fans. They are just ‘Whatever, it’s cool’ with their team.

But why were Pistons fans getting so stressed?

The team was not very good this year but they weren’t suppose to be. It is not like, say, the Toronto Raptors situation, a team expected to be good that was not.

The draft could not have gone better, with the Pistons getting the No. 1 pick for the first time in 51 years. Yeah, there was a bit of anxiety afterward, for some people, about whether Detroit would take Cade Cunningham, but even that wasn’t that stressful, since the top four in the draft were pegged as becoming NBA stars.

The debate was: take Cade Cunningham or move down a bit and take another player who will be  really good and get some draft picks. Not exactly a stress-inducing debate, or maybe it was for some?

The summer league certainly should not have induced any stress. Detroit went 3-2, winning its last three games. Cunningham looked good and some new, promising players like Jamorko Pickett and Luka Garza became known.

So why are you all stressed out Piston fans?

Well, even the survey says most (74%) are relaxed and positive about the team. The social media posts start from the beginning of the year until recently. In the winter, with the trades of Blake Griffin and Derrick Rose plus the injury to Killian Hayes, there might have been some reason to worry among Pistons supporters.

There was also the anxiety of the last couple of weeks of the season, would Detroit finish in the bottom three, to have the best chance at No. 1? And then between the season ending and the Draft Lottery, there could be stress as fans did not know how it would turn out (usually its been bad).

The Answer (maybe)

Maybe, it is because Detroit Pistons fans simply care, so much about their team. As the Netflix documentary ‘Malice at the Palace’ showed, Detroit loves the Pistons and are not afraid to show it, (although a few went a bit too far that night).

Pistons fans worry and fret and blow off steam on social media because they want the team to do well so bad. From the mid-1980 to about 12 years ago, Detroit usually fielded very good teams. This being a bottom feeder is new to older fans. They don’t like and want to go back to way it was.

Young people have known nothing but forlorn seasons year-after-year. Children entering seventh grade were not alive the last time the Pistons won a single playoff game. Think about that!

While events with the team are going well this year, the collective frustration of the fan base from years of trades gone wrong, poor drafts and simple incompetence at the management level, can build up and stress fans out.

Or, the survey could just be completely wrong and Pistons fans are a happy and positive bunch. Worrying is for Cavaliers fans.