Say Cheese: Bench energy is real, and loud, at NBA restart

LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. (AP) — Dion Waiters took an open 3-opener and about 75 feet away, a dozen or so of his Los Angeles Lakers teammates all seemed to leap from their seats in unison.

“SAY CHEESE!” they yelled, dragging out the last syllable for effect.

At Staples Center back in Los Angeles, such a yell would have been heard by the Jack Nicholson-types in the super-expensive seats. But at the NBA restart, where the only fans inside the building are the ones wearing uniforms, that sort of enthusiasm is most definitely getting noticed.

At the scrimmage games at Walt Disney World over the past few days, bench energy has been real — and often loud.

“It’s a bunch of different things that they’ll be screaming,” said Waiters, whose teammates were playing off his ‘Philly Cheese’ nickname with the salute they directed his way. “But it feels good. That’s the only thing I got. Some guys like myself, we like to play off the crowd and their enjoyment. But the teammates, they’re there, supporting you. It’s a win-win.”

There will be some crowd-noise elements when the seeding games — essentially the resumption of the regular season — begin Thursday night. Music will blare and the 17-foot video boards surrounding three sides of the courts in each arena will even sometimes show real fans who logged in to “cheer” for their team.

But the biggest source of cheerleading will come from the benches, and some coaches are even encouraging players not in the game to be active that way.

“To reference that and try to coach it and try to praise it, it’s on my mind,” Philadelphia coach Brett Brown said. “To ignore it and not reference it, I don’t do that.”

Brown’s 76ers had the NBA’s best home record this season, going 29-2 in games at Wells...