LSB Feature: Betting On Playoff Lebron James, Buy The Odds

• The Los Angeles Lakers are favored over the Phoenix Suns despite the lakers being the 7 seed.
• The Phoenix Suns have -160 short odds to lose in the first round despite being the 2 seed.
• LeBron James has won more playoff series than any players in the league.

PHOENIX – LeBron James is once again entering the NBA Playoffs and sports betting fans are continuing to place action on his team to win.

What makes this season interesting, is that the Los Angeles Lakers, LeBron’s team, are currently sitting in the number 7 spot in the standings.

Despite this, NBA betting fans are still placing heavy action on the LeBron lead team, making this the first time in 30 years that a 7 seed was favored over a 2 seed in the first round.

No Underdog For LeBron Team

It is no surprise that LeBron James is managing to draw so much action at online sportsbooks. The reigning NBA Finals MVP has been a sure bet for most of his career in the playoffs.

The Phoenix Suns are having a big season in their own right, going from missing the playoffs for 10 straight seasons they bounced back and became a 2 seed, mainly due to the play of veteran guard Chris Paul and star player Devin Booker.

So why are betting fans still picking the lower-seed lakers? Well looking closer at the season, the Lakers’ real struggles came from injuries to both LeBron James and Anthony Davis.

With both those players out, the Lakers dropped in the standings. Prior to the Davis injury, the Lakers had a 0.5 game lead on the Phoenix Suns. Fans are likely betting on the fact that both LeBron James and Anthony Davis are back in the rotation and barring any further injury are at full strength.

LeBron James has also never lost in the first round of the NBA Playoffs in his entire career. Based on that stat alone, it’s understandable why betting fans are leaning so heavily on the Lakers to win.

LeBron By The Numbers

Statistically, LeBron is the greatest playoff performer of all time. He has more playoff points than any other player, more points in the clutch, has a 172-88 win record which is 66.2% of his career playoff games, and averages 28.8 PPG on 49.2% shooting from the field.

His playoff accomplishments do not stop there either. LeBron James made it to the NBA Finals 8 consecutive seasons, 10 total times for his career, and has a 4-6 NBA Finals record.

LeBron is in his 18th season. This means he has spent 55% of his entire career making it to the NBA Finals. LeBron has also made the postseason 14 seasons out of his 18 season NBA career.

What these numbers show, is that betting fans who bet on LeBron to win a given series or game in the playoffs have more often than not come out on top.

The best example of this is the longshot NBA Finals betting fans who placed action on the LeBron lead Cleveland Cavaliers to win in the 2015-2016 season.

The Golden State Warriors were 73-9 on the season, the greatest winning record of all time. Steph Curry won unanimous league MVP. The Golden State Warriors had -1600 odds to win the series, with Cleveland being +850 underdogs.

Despite this, the Cavs rallied back from being down 3-1 in the series to win the biggest NBA Finals comeback victory in NBA history.

This is the best example of why betting on LeBron James is a proven good wager

Betting On Bron

So now as the NBA Playoffs begin, betting fans continue to place action on King James, despite the fact that no 7 seed in NBA history has ever won an NBA Finals. Despite this, the Los Angeles Lakers still have the second shortest odds to win the NBA Finals.

What is interesting about this betting line, is that despite the fact that the Brooklyn Nets are seeing the most action at online sportsbooks, LeBron James himself is still gathering the most bets.

James is favored to win NBA Finals MVP over Kevin Durant of the Brooklyn Nets. What this shows is that individual player wagers are still heavily leaning in on LeBron despite the masses believing in the Nets.

What we see from examining the odds at legal sports betting is that no matter what seed a LeBron James team is in, his resume alone grants him the benefit of the doubt from betting fans.

Betting fans continue to wager on LeBron James and so far, it’s been proven to be a good bet.

News tags: Anthony Davis | Chris Paul | Cleveland Cavaliers | Devin Booker | Golden State Warriors | Kevin Durant | Las Angeles Lakers | LeBron James | NBA | NBA Playoffs | Phoenix Suns