Which NBA Fans Swear the Most? The Most Foul-Mouthed Fanbases in the US

Which NBA fans have the dirtiest mouths online? We dug through over a million Reddit comments to find out—and the results might surprise you. Whether your team is gunning for a championship or suffering through a rebuild, NBA fans bring plenty of passion to the conversation. But when the emotions run high, which fanbases are the most likely to let the F-bombs (and more) fly?

From the Big Apple to Salt Lake City, we analyzed the official subreddits of all 30 NBA teams to uncover which fans are dropping the most swears, who’s the most negative, and where you’ll actually find the most positive vibes. So—who takes the crown as the NBA’s most foul-mouthed fans?

The Most Vulgar NBA Fanbases

Let’s get right to it. When it comes to dropping expletives on Reddit, New York Knicks fans are in a league of their own. Over 8% of all Knicks comments contained a swear word—leading the NBA pack. The Memphis Grizzlies and Indiana Pacers weren’t far behind, with their fans also clocking in well above 7%. On the flip side, Utah Jazz fans are (statistically) the most polite in the league, with just over 3% of their comments containing swears.

Curious where your team lands? Here’s how every fanbase stacks up:

• Top 5 most vulgar: Knicks, Grizzlies, Pacers, Mavericks, Timberwolves
• Least vulgar: Jazz, Trail Blazers, Spurs, Wizards, Hornets

What’s the Go-To Swear Word?

We didn’t just look at how often NBA fans cuss—we also checked which words they use the most. For most teams, the classic “s**t” is the crowd favorite, accounting for over 40% of all vulgar comments in several subreddits. But a few passionate groups (like Knicks, Grizzlies, and Mavericks fans) lean heavier on the four-letter “F-bomb,” making up nearly half of all swears among Knicks fans.

Want to see the top offenders for each fanbase? Check out the list below.

• Top “F-word” teams: Knicks (48.95%), Grizzlies (47.84%), Mavericks (45.30%), Pistons (37.45%) – these fanbases use “f**k” most frequently as their top swear. 
• Top “S-word” teams: Kings (45.74%), Lakers (46.75%), Hawks (45.38%), Clippers (45.55%), Suns (45.57%) – these fanbases favor “s**t” as their #1 choice. 
• Top Swear Word: “S-word” (“s**t”) is the most popular top swear for 25 out of 30 fanbases.

The NBA’s Most Negative Fanbases

Swearing’s one thing—but who brings the most negativity to the conversation? According to our sentiment analysis, Dallas Mavericks fans top the charts for negativity, with nearly a third of all comments flagged as negative. The Celtics and Timberwolves communities follow closely behind. Meanwhile, Spurs and Wizards fans are among the least negative, keeping things (relatively) upbeat.

Here’s how the mood shifts across the league:

• Most negative fanbases: Mavericks, Celtics, Timberwolves, Grizzlies, 76ers, Knicks
• Least negative fanbases: Spurs, Wizards, Trail Blazers, Jazz, Raptors

Where the Positivity Shines

It’s not all doom and gloom! Some NBA corners are surprisingly wholesome. Utah Jazz fans come out on top for positivity, with over half of their subreddit’s comments being positive. Nets and Spurs fans are also spreading the good vibes. At the other end, Knicks and Timberwolves fans—already high on the vulgarity scale—are a bit less sunny in their outlook.

Find out which teams spread the most joy below:

• Most positive fanbases: Jazz, Nets, Spurs, Raptors, Wizards, Trail Blazers
• Least positive fanbases: Knicks, Timberwolves, Pacers, Grizzlies, Pistons

So—did your team live up to its reputation, or did the results catch you off guard? One thing’s for sure: NBA fans never hold back.

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Methodology

• Data Collection: We scraped 1,384,333 comments from all 30 NBA team subreddits using Python.
• Swear Word Detection: Each comment was checked for a list of explicit terms (e.g., "fuck", "shit", "bitch", etc.) to classify it as vulgar.
• Sentiment Analysis: The VADER Sentiment Analyzer identified comments as positive, negative, or neutral.
• Data Aggregation: We compiled the data into pivot tables to calculate:
  • Percentage of comments containing swear words
  • Percentage of comments classified as negative or positive
• Outcome: This allowed us to rank every NBA fanbase for vulgarity and sentiment, shining a light on the unique personalities of each community.