Why Sportsbooks Will Be Rooting Against the Lakers in the Postseason

The NBA playoffs tip off Saturday. You can still get into the futures market and wager on the NBA champion. Plenty of NBA bettors are doing just that and one might think those bettors are pouring their money into the defending champion Boston Celtics. Some might also think the Oklahoma City Thunder are a strong bet after winning 68 games in the 2024-25 season. 

The Celtics also had another 60-win season this year and the Thunder were just the seventh team in NBA history to hit the 68-win mark in a season. Don’t forget the Cleveland Cavaliers who actually had a better record (64-18) than the Celtics. All three of these teams won 60-plus games and all are built to win an NBA title. 

So, why are sportsbooks taking more NBA championship bets on the 50-32 Los Angeles Lakers? That’s right. At almost every single sportsbook in the market, the Lakers are the most popular NBA title wager. 

Doncic + LeBron = $$$

The Lakers have been a popular bet for years, decades even. It’s just like the New York Yankees in Major League Baseball and the Dallas Cowboys in the NFL. They are popular teams and people love to bet on popular teams, especially those that have no clue about winning sports bets.

In the NBA over the past several years, two of the biggest fan bases are LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers. The two came together in 2018 to add even more to an already huge Lakers betting base.

When the Lakers worked out the deal that sent Anthony Davis to Dallas in exchange for Luka Doncic, that base took it up to another level. Action on the Lakers skyrocketed after the trade and has continued. Now, as mentioned, bettors are holding more Lakers to win the NBA title tickets than for any other team.

Tracking the Lakers in 2024-25

When the 2024-25 NBA season began, the Lakers were somewhat of an afterthought. They were given +2500 odds to win this year’s NBA championship. At the end of January, the Lakers were fifth in the Western Conference with a 27-19 record. At that point, the Lakers were listed at +4000 to win it all this year. That’s when the franchise pulled one of the more shocking trades not only in NBA history, but also in sports history.

On February 2, it was reported that Doncic would be going to LA to unite with LeBron. BetMGM almost instantly moved the Lakers NBA championship odds all the way down to +1800. The Lakers odds dipped as low as +700 at BetOnline.ag after one better laid down $100K at +1000. That, of course, would pay out $1 million should the Lakers win the title this season. 

Currently, three teams – Oklahoma City, Boston, and Cleveland – are given better than +1000 odds to win the NBA championship. The Lakers are fourth on the board at +1100. BetMGM reports that almost 16 percent of the bets and 16 percent of the money in the NBA championship market is on the Lakers. BetMGM will surely be hoping the Lakers do not bring home an 18th NBA title this year.

Before the Trade

If you don’t know what Pikkit is, you might want to check it out. Pikkit is an app that gives a sports bettor the ability to sync all of their sportsbook accounts. Essentially, a bettor can see odds and bets across a wide number of sportsbooks all at once.

According to Pikkit, from the end of the last season until Feb. 1, the Lakers had about 3 percent of the bets and 2 percent of the money in the NBA title market. That was sixth among all NBA teams. Once the trade was announced, the Lakers numbers began to skyrocket.

According to several sources, nearly one-third of all of the money bet on this year’s NBA champion after the Luka trade was announced has been on the Lakers. Beginning with Feb. 2 until the present day, the Laker have captured 30 percent of all championship bets and 35 percent of all championship money. That is according to Pikkit. Pikkit also says that there have been more bets on the Lakers to win the NBA title in the last 10 weeks than bets on any other team to win it all over the last 10 months. 

The Luka Effect

Anytime a major player moves on to a new team, there is usually an immediate market reaction. Take MLB, for example. In the offseason when the Mets signed Juan Soto, sportsbooks began taking more action on New York. It was the same for the Lakers. It also happened at a time before the Super Bowl. College basketball was still in its conference schedules. That news at that time was the biggest news in all of sports.

Since the trade, several sportsbooks have reported heavy betting and more action on the Lakers. Hark Rock Bet, for example, said they have taken about 67 percent more bets on Lakers games now that LA has Doncic. Hard Rock also reports that they have taken more bets on LA to win the Western Conference than on any other team.

Other Bets

Luka to LA changed the whole NBA betting dynamic in 2025. It’s not just bets on the Lakers to win the title either. Los Angeles opened as a -160 favorite to win their first-round playoff series against Minnesota. A ridiculous 95 percent-plus of the money came in on the Lakers and that pricing has since increased. 

With so many bets on the Lakers to win each series, to win the West and to win the NBA title, sportsbooks are hoping that at least one of those favorites comes through. Otherwise, sportsbooks stand to lose a ton of money come June.