Miami Heat Encouraging Fans to Not Be Worst Crowd in NBA

The most startling part of last week's Utah comeback win in Miami wasn't Paul Millsap's insane shot to tie the game at the buzzer, nor was it his career-best 46 points.

It was the absurd number of empty seats around American Airlines Arena in the fourth quarter and overtime.

Even though the Heat won a championship just a few short years ago, the crowd that is showing up to see the new South Beach Spectacle has a long way to go in learning the way of the NBA. With tickets costing more than your average fan can afford, the crowd is full of folks with money looking to enjoy the fancy perks of following a glamorous basketball team.

To try to help these newbies out, the Heat released a list for fans to follow so that they can "Fan Up" when they attend games.

Seriously.

The list reads:

"Fan Up means being in your seat for tipoff … and staying there until the final buzzer.

Fan Up means standing up and making some noise for your Miami Heat.

Fan Up means there is nothing fashionable about showing up late.

Fan Up means the early bird gets the goodies (note: we'll provide the goodies).

Fan Up means "Why would you want to miss one second of what's gonna go down this season?"

Fan Up means … Everywhere you go, everyone will know you're a Miami Heat fan!

It's time to show that Heat fans do deserve this team, and this opportunity. It's time to show what real Miami fans are made of.

It's time to fan up."

Chances are, when you need to put out instruction manuals on how fans can prove that they appreciate a team, those fans don't appreciate that team. The mission of showing that "Heat fans do deserve this team" will likely prove to be a bit counterproductive.