Los Angeles Lakers At +250 To Win The NBA Championship

The NBA has been stunned by the death of Kobe Bryant in a helicopter crash this past Sunday. Kobe’s death is a profound tragedy and its effect on the 2020 NBA season matters very little in comparison to the lives lost and the families who have been shattered by grief and heartbreak. On Friday, the Lakers played their first home game since the sad loss and while they paid tribute to Bryant in many ways, they ended up losing the game to the Portland Trail Blazers.

BetOnline.ag has posted a prop on whether the Lakers will win the championship as these types of things can sometimes bring teams together and propel them to new heights. Let’s take a closer look at the props and see where there’s value:

KOBE BRYANT TRIBUTES

The tributes have poured in from around the world. Celebrities outside the sports world, athletes from sports other than the NBA, and coaches from various sports have all expressed how much Kobe Bryant touched them and reshaped their lives in some way. Most of all, though, the NBA players who played with Kobe or looked up to him as a shaping influence in their basketball careers have been overwhelmed by grief. The NBA played games on Sunday instead of postponing them due to Kobe’s death. Players didn’t have very many hours to react to the news, especially in the afternoon games played on that Sunday, January 26. The teams playing those games decided to do something specific, given that Kobe wore the numbers 8 and 24 for the Lakers.

Since a midcourt violation is an 8-second violation and not the 10-second violation it used to be, NBA teams committed an intentional 8-second violation at the start of the game to honor that particular jersey number for Kobe. The other team on the court would then commit a 24-second shot clock violation to honor Kobe’s other number. These were powerful moments which were captured on video. They went viral on social media and were impossible to ignore.

THE LAKERS’ CHANCES OF WINNING IT ALL

NO -275
YES +250

The Lakers have a very good chance of winning it all but every time they seem to come close to establishing themselves as the top dog, they stumble. That includes their most recent action as they have lost four of their last seven games; they just seven losses in their first 40 contests.

The question is what type of moves can they make at the trade deadline to round out the roster. It feels like they’re leaning too heavily on Anthony Davis and LeBron James, and they don’t have the necessary depth. Guys like Rajon Rondo, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Danny Green and Kyle Kuzma have all been spotty. Can the Lakers rely on these guys in the playoffs?

It really feels like teams like the Los Angeles Clippers or maybe even the Denver Nuggets have more depth – and more reliable depth – than the Lakers. We’ll have to see if the Lakers make a move to bolster their lineup.

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