Heat Fans Leave Early During Game 6: 'Don't Come Back,' Says Chris Bosh (VIDEO)
'People Gave Up On Us' Before Amazing Comeback and Overtime Win, Says Heat Star
Heat fans left early at the end of Game 6 of the NBA Finals, when Miami was only 5 points away from tying up the game with the San Antonio Spurs in the 4th quarter. The same fans were upset when security didn't allow them to see the Heat force overtime and the win, but Chris Bosh has some advice for them- "don't come back."
"For all those guys who left, don't come back for Game 7," he told NBC Sports reporters. "You can't get let back in after you leave. I know that. Hell, I've been to games. You can't leave a game and then come back. It doesn't make any sense; you left. It's not punishment, that's protocol."
"You never give up," the Heat star added. "People gave up on us, and they can stay where they are and watch the game at home."
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Heat fans began leaving early during the final seconds of Tuesday's game when the Spurs were 28 seconds away from clinching victory. Videos showed fans swarming out of the arena eager to get ahead of the traffic. However, the same fans banged and pounded on the glass doors of the American Airlines Arena when they realized overtime had begun.
"South Florida sports fans may have hit a new low that probably won't help our reputation as fair-weather fans," Christy Cabrera wrote for The Sun Sentinel.
"So many people have left that I'm honestly embarrassed for this city," Dan Le Batard, a Miami sportswriter and TV host, tweeted after the game.
Outside the arena, police had to be called to back up security forces as some fans were upset they could not be let back into the arena. They were missing LeBron James and Ray Allen's vital 3-pointers and the subsequent domination by the Heat that led them to victory.
"Now I'm watching horrible, drunk, quitting fans desperately trying to get back in. This is madness," Wictor Oquendo, a WPLG sports anchor, tweeted while outside the arena.
For James, he used the fans' desertion and the officials premature setup- they had begun setting up the yellow tape in preparation for the presentation of the trophy- as motivation to win.
"We [saw] the championship board already out there, the yellow tape and you know, that's why you play the game to the final buzzer," James told reporters. "That's what we did tonight. We gave it everything that we had and more and to come out with a win like that, it makes it even greater when you're able to, I guess, just will everything that you have as individuals for a team and have a game like this."
James had 32 points, Mario Chalmers had 20, Dwyane Wade had 14 and Chris Bosh had 10. Game 7's pre-game activities start at 8:30 p.m. EST on ABC.
