For some reason, word hasn't gotten out yet. Whenever a big NBA team plays the Hawks in Atlanta, Philips Arena's population includes quite a few fans of the road squad. They cheer for their team, leading national TV commentators and just-stopping-by fans to become aghast. Seriously, you guys have never heard part of a Philips crowd cheering for the other team before, as they did when they chanted "MVP" for Derrick Rose Friday night?
This kind of thing is often used as evidence of Atlanta's TERRIBLE SPORTS TOWNdom, but, as I've laid out scads of times, actually shows what's great about Atlanta. Chicago, your claim to NBA fandom excellence is that you have a lot of Bulls fans, right? Well, so do we, so let's all enjoy a wonderful Saturday.
It's just always amusing to hear a national audience apparently re-discover this phenomenon for the first time every time it happens. You guys haven't caught too many Knicks, Lakers or Heat games in Atlanta this year, I take it?
Besides, they were probably just chanting for Jason Collins anyway.