Posted by Brian Windhorst

While I was at summer league in Las Vegas last week I spent a lot of time sitting in the stands with fans watching the games.  The media seating there does not allow a good vantage point.  Anyway, watching everyone reminded me of a fan rating system I sort of developed over several years of covering the NBA.  In the past, it has been a good conversation starter.  It isn't ironclad or approved by any official body, just me through experience.  There are five categories, as follows:

Casual fan -- This covers the large majority who watch basketball for leisure.  They watch the ball, mostly focusing on who scores and who has the ball in his hands. Television broadcasts are presented mostly in this context.

Educated fan -- This usually includes those who maybe played the game or coached, be it at the local rec center or in school, and some media members.  They pay more attention to matchups, who's guarding whom, which plays are run or what defense a team may be
in. It might also include eyeing substitution patterns and general rotations.   Considering it is July and there's not much going on in the NBA, I think anyone who is visiting Truehoop today earns this elevated status in my mind.  And come to think of it, anyone who watched more than six hours of summer league basketball should be upgraded as well.

Insider -- This includes many media members and dedicated observers who pay attention to the full scope of a team or the league. Watching the game, they often will focus on the personalities and relationships between players and between players and coaches. They often will put a critical eye to certain areas of players' games and focus on or document obscure aspects. They'll keep tabs on in-depth stats such as plus/minus ratings, effective field-goal
percentage, and various defensive statistics.  There also may be a reasonable understanding of the NBA salary cap included.

Pro -- The folks who are paid to absorb and break down the game at a high level. Scouts who document play calls and movement and tendencies in every situation for the opposition. Coaches who spend hours studying films and can identify weaknesses and strengths on a very detailed level. Such as which shoulder a player prefers to lead with or which side they are slow to on defense.  One of the most eye-opening things I've done as a beat writer was to sit next to scouts and coaches during games and listen and watch.  Really, it is enlightening.

Eye in the sky -- Or, in many cases, the tunnel. These are the general managers and team executive-types who see everything with an additional political layer. Not only do they watch players, but they do so knowing what their agents are calling to complain about. They
also evaluate assistant coaches and pay attention to who has influence in huddles. They see players and think about contracts and true value to a franchise.  They look at officials assigned to the game and calculate their potential biases and decide what to complain to the league about.  Overall, when they watch the games they don't have much fun.