The Los Angeles Lakers aren’t good enough to win an NBA championship anytime soon, but that won’t stop American sports bettors from bellying up and betting LeBron James and Luka Dončić to reach the promised land.
Seriously.
James looks every bit of 40 years old, Dončić struggles defensively and there’s no “big” that played meaningful minutes in the Lakers’ first-round loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves.
The worst part? There’s no easy fix to this mess.
Historically, James has mortgaged the future to win now, but Los Angeles has already done that. Outside of Dalton Knecht, there are no young prospects to improve via the trading block, and it’s highly doubtful James pushes management to fire his podcast buddy turned head coach, JJ Redick.
Former Lakers superstar and current NBA on TNT analyst Shaquille O’Neal didn’t mince any words when asked on live television why L.A. flamed out in the first round for the second consecutive season.
“They’re just not good,” Shaq admitted.
All that said, the Lakers will remain a popular team at the betting window. And purple-and-gold apologists tend to put their money where their mouths are.
One bettor walked into the Westgate SuperBook in Las Vegas before the Lakers’ playoff finale and bet $1,000 on L.A. to win the title at 50/1.
“It’s not just Luka and LeBron,” SuperBook vice president of risk Jeff Sherman told FOX Sports. “It’s the Lakers who have falsely low odds.
“It’s been like that for many, many years, and it’s even more amplified with those two guys on the roster. The real challenge is finding a price where we can still offer perceived value to the customers while at the same time, not having to give away more than they’re willing to purchase.”
Personally, I would need at least 25/1 to bet the Lakers to be next year’s champs. They’re average at everything, masters of nothing.
“I’m expecting to open them in the 10 to 12/1 range for the NBA title,” Sherman said. “We’ll obviously tweak things relative to how the other teams stack up. The Thunder will be better next season and look for an aggressive offseason approach from the Spurs and Rockets. The West isn’t getting easier.
“We still have to play defense and open the Laker number low.”
To give you some betting context, if Sherman and Co. open the Lakers at 10/1 for next year, it’ll be almost the exact same price the SuperBook has on the Detroit Lions to win next year’s Super Bowl.
Make that make sense.
One team feels championship good, the other does not.
“I wouldn’t bet the Lakers with your money,” one professional bettor told FOX Sports. “LeBron is at that stage of his career where he’s padding stats and racking up accolades. It’s impressive what he’s doing at his age, but he lost his fastball. He can’t carry or co-carry a team on a deep playoff run.
“A bet on the Lakers making any noise is stupid.”
