The sound of silence at AAA

Enduring the ear-splitting reality of empty NBA arenas, adjustments must be made as league still brings the noise

NBA crowds have been both virtually nonexistent and notably boisterous this season.

In that respect, the Miami Heat’s two-game trip to Philadelphia has been particularly ear-splitting, even without fans in the stands at Wells Fargo Center.

As part of the NBA game presentation, the crowd noise heard on telecasts not only is audible in arenas, but at times as loud or louder than typical crowds.

“It’s definitely been a challenge,” the Heat’s Duncan Robinson said ahead of Thursday night’s game against the 76ers, “and it certainly doesn’t help when you’re on the road and they’re pumping in crowd noise.

“But that’s how it would be if there were fans. So I definitely don’t knock ’em for that.”

While the sound effects and artificial cheering help replicate the NBA experience, there is an eeriness of an enthusiastic crowd nowhere to be seen.

“This has been a year full of challenges and unique,” Robinson said.

The NBA, amid the coronavirus pandemic, is down to five arenas allowing fans, with the Heat’s Dec. 23 season opener in Orlando their lone game to this point open to the general public.

But, still, the league brings the noise.

“Your form of communication has to change,” said Heat coach Erik Spoelstra, who has to try to cut through that noise while coaching in a mask.

The Heat next play games Saturday and Monday against the Detroit Pistons at AmericanAirlines Arena, where the “crowd” has been particularly boisterous this season during early stages of games that otherwise typically feature late-arriving fans.

“They pump in some crowd noise,” Robinson said on his new podcast, The Long Shot, “but still it’s the visual component of looking around an 18,000-person arena and seeing 150 people.”

Heat games have only been open to family and friends of those involved with the team.

Still, Robinson noted there is the ability to cut

through the noise when needed, recalling on his podcast a moment during the preseason when the Heat were playing the Toronto Raptors at Amalie Arena in Tampa, at a time fans were still allowed in that building.

“One of our guys is on the line and I’m outside the three-point line with Fred VanVleet,” Robinson said of the Raptors guard, “and there’s a fan in the crowd who’s complaining about the call. And at some point, he calls out Fred. I don’t remember exactly in what capacity. And Fred just turns around and yells and the entire place hears him, ‘Shut up and put on your mask.’”

When it comes to the sights and sounds of the game, Robinson said there was a more natural feel in the intimate setting of the quarantine bubble that ended last season at Disney World.

“Personally,” he said, “I much prefer the bubble. Mostly because those venues were set up for no fans. They had the virtual fans on the outside. They had the tight backdrops. They had the small seating areas, seating for close family once we got deep into the playoffs.

“Now, we’ve had to adjust to playing in these 18,000-, 20,000person arenas, and they’re large, cavernous arenas, and they’re just empty.”

CARLINE JEAN/SUN SENTINEL AmericanAirlines Arena has largely been empty this season, even as Heat bring the noise on game nights.