"Sell the Team" Started in Oakland, Now Travels to Detroit, NBA

A's fan's "sell" movement has now crossed sports into the NBA with Detroit Pistons fans showing their displeasure with the franchise

While Oakland may very well end up losing the A's, their fans have made an impact across the sports landscape. 

On Thursday night in Detroit, the Pistons were down by nine with Utah at the free throw line. 43.7 seconds remaining. Even the Golden State Warriors at their peak wouldn't consider that an easy task. The Pistons are not peak Golden State. In fact they may be rock bottom Detroit, with Thursday's loss being their 25th in a row. 

During those free throws, fans in Detroit chanted, "Sell the team," a familiar sound to many A's fans, who spent the summer filling the Coliseum in Oakland with the same sentiment. They also got the fans in Washington, D.C., Los Angeles, and even those in attendance for the MLB All-Star Game in Seattle to produce chants heard clearly on the broadcasts. 

You can hear that “Sell The Team” chant through the TV pic.twitter.com/FJutEYIoSR

— Rob Perez (@WorldWideWob) December 22, 2023

Detroit started the year 2-1 with wins against the Charlotte Hornets and Chicago Bulls on back-to-back nights. Since then they have rattled off 25 straight defeats, inching closer to the NBA record of 28, set in 2015-16 by the Philadelphia 76ers during their "trust the process" era. 

Despite the long-shot odds, A's fans have stayed making noise despite owner John Fisher's attempt to relocate the team to Las Vegas. They're even planning a boycott of Opening Day with fans invited to show up and hang out in the parking lot for the game while receiving a special full-sized "SELL" flag. The goal is to take away Fisher's largest payday of the season while also making a statement that will be covered nationally. This has the chance to do just that. 

It has also been reported that around 2,400 flags have been donated for the event, which should be a pretty powerful image that we'll all see on front pages in just a few months. 

Now, if you're a sports owner, not just an MLB owner, you have to be wondering why John Fisher is a) leaving this market and b) being allowed to leave this market so freely. Fisher's ineptitude could end up hurting more than just baseball if this trend picks up. 

This chant happening this year in another city and for another sport shows the impact that A's fans have made since April. The team may not stay in Oakland, but fans across all sports are starting to wake up. 

Maybe Detroit will have more success with their pleas.