Hoops Fans Want Sixers to Win NBA Finals

GALLUP NEWS SERVICE

PRINCETON, NJ -- There's a chant familiar to basketball fans in most NBA cities, especially when their team must face the Los Angeles Lakers in the NBA Finals. These days, "Beat L-A" is a familiar sound in Philadelphia's First Union Center, and as the 76ers prepare to take on the Lakers in Game Four of the NBA Finals, a new CNN/USA Today/Gallup poll shows basketball fans want the Sixers to dethrone the NBA's defending champions. While the general public splits evenly in its support for the two teams (39% for the Lakers, 38% for the Sixers), 53% of those who describe themselves as fans of professional basketball prefer the Sixers compared to 43% who favor the Lakers.

As might be expected, those living in the East support the Sixers (50%, compared to 23% for the Lakers), and those in the West like the Lakers (48%, compared to 31% for the Sixers). The Sixers get the edge among Midwesterners (41% to 34%), but Southerners prefer the Lakers (45% to 31%).

One interesting note: men support the Sixers, while women prefer the Lakers. Forty-four percent of men want the Sixers to win the NBA Finals, while 36% prefer the Lakers. However, 42% of women prefer the Lakers, compared to just 32% who support the Sixers.

Shaq May Be Superman, but Iverson Is the Answer

Lakers center Shaquille O'Neal may be the most dominating NBA center in years. A March 2000 Gallup poll found basketball fans considered the 7'1" giant to be the greatest basketball player active in the game (21%). However, in this year's NBA Finals, O'Neal's Goliath-like dominance is being countered by David -- in the form of six-foot (generously measured) Sixers guard Allen Iverson. When basketball fans were asked in Gallup's June 8-10, 2001 poll to name the best player in the series, 43% gave the nod to Iverson. One in four (25%) credited O'Neal, and 23% gave the honor to Lakers guard Kobe Bryant. Sixers center Dikembe Mutombo was a distant fourth with 2%.

By all accounts, Iverson has had an outstanding season. He led the league in scoring, was voted the MVP of February's NBA All-Star Game, and capped off the season with the league's MVP award. His "hip-hop" image, complete with tattoos, braids and an attitude to match, has long been considered a turn-off for many fans and potential endorsement clients. However, he spent the last year turning his attitude and image around, and the latest Gallup poll finds that 39% of Americans now have a favorable impression of him. This rating, while not spectacular, is more than twice as high as the 16% of Americans who have an unfavorable opinion of him. One in three Americans had not heard of Iverson (32%) and another 13% say they don't know enough about him to have an opinion.

It is fair to say, though, that Iverson appeals to specific demographic groups. His favorable image is far higher among nonwhites than among whites (60% to 35%), among men than among women (46% to 33%), and among younger age groups (47% among those 18-29, compared to 31% among those 65 and older). However, his "street" image plays just as well in the suburbs as it does downtown -- 42% of Americans living in suburban areas have a favorable opinion of Iverson, compared to 40% of urban Americans, and 34% of rural Americans.

Survey Methods

The results below are based on telephone interviews with a randomly selected national sample of 1,011 adults, 18 years and older, conducted June 8-10, 2001. For results based on this sample, one can say with 95 percent confidence that the maximum error attributable to sampling and other random effects is plus or minus 3 percentage points. In addition to sampling error, question wording and practical difficulties in conducting surveys can introduce error or bias into the findings of public opinion polls.

Which team do you want to win the N.B.A. finals -- [ROTATED: the Philadelphia 76ers (or) the Los Angeles Lakers]?

Which of the following basketball players do you think is the best player in this year's NBA Finals--[ROTATED: Kobe Bryant, Shaquille O'Neal, Allen Iverson]-- or some other player?

BASED ON -- 413 -- PROFESSIONAL BASKETBALL FANS; ±5 PCT. PTS.