On a recent episode of the Road Trippin’ podcast with Allie Clifton, Richard Jefferson and Channing Frye, Chet Holmgren was asked what his favorite road arenas to play in are. It’s an open-ended question that lets the player apply their own subjective criteria to determine their favorite. Most wins? Best environment? Best visitor locker room? The truth is in the eye of the beholder.
Holmgren threw Miami on the list because, “it’s just like, empty.” He then said it puts the onus on the away team to build a lead by the fourth quarter when, ostensibly, Heat fans have finally arrived to their seats. The fans are often stereotyped as a late-arriving crowd to Heat games, and many took the statement to be an indictment of their passion.
After the quote was publicized and critiqued by Heat fans and writers, many of whom dug into his playing time in Miami only to find out he played in just one game in South Beach that didn’t circumstantially match his take on the fourth-quarter lead, Holmgren took to X (formerly Twitter) to clarify the take.
“Y’all get mad when nba players never have anything to say to media, but then chop our quotes up to get reactions. I was saying the seats r empty until the 4th quarter when fans come back from the lounges after a few drinks and the atmosphere is great for close games. Its actually a compliment…”
Clearly, Holmgren thinks his statement was taken out of context and cut to increase engagement.
In its full context, the quote is in this video, around the 25 minute mark:
