Getty Image
The map below shows which NBA team each state is rooting for in both the 2018 Eastern and Western Conference Finals. It is based on nearly 500,000 geotagged tweets that looked for each teams primary fan hashtags. For instance, the Celtics’ primary fan hashtag this year has been #cusrise. Only fans tend to use these hashtags, so this tends to be even more accurate than just looking for team mentions.
As you can see, in the map NBA guys over at sportsbetting.ag, the Cleveland Cavaliers are overwhelmingly the favorite team by state, with Boston snagging a couple states and, of course, the northeast. Might have something to do with the Lebron James effect.
Here’s a complete rundown of what they discovered…
The Cavaliers took the top spot with more than double the amount of tweets as the team that came in second, sweeping Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nevada, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Utah, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin, and Wyoming.
The Celtics were second, taking Alaska, Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, Nebraska, New Hampshire, North Dakota, Rhode Island, and Vermont.
The Warriors are the favorites in just two states: California and New Mexico. While the Rockets are the favorites in just one: Texas.
So who are you rooting for?