With the Lakers set to take on the Oklahoma City Thunder in the Western Conference Semi-Finals, ESPN’s popular show SportsNation polled its viewers asking them to weigh in on the series.
The first question asked who the fans believed would win between the aging Lakers and the up-and-coming Thunder. Not surprisingly, the majority of the fans cast their vote in the Thunder’s favor.
In reality this isn’t that surprising of an outcome. The only state currently backing the Lakers is their home state of California, while the 49 other states in the country are favoring the Thunder.
Still, the fans rational belief on who will win is vastly different from who they will be rooting for when the series begins on Monday night.
While there are still only 11 states that favor the Lakers outright, 55 percent of all fans that voted said they will be pulling for Los Angeles. This goes to show the reach that Lakers Nation truly has all over the country.
In the end none of these numbers will matter once the teams take the floor, but leading up to the series it’s always fun to see where the fans’ allegiances lie.
