LAS VEGAS — LeBron James’ debut in Hollywood is turning into a full-blown debacle. About all he can hope for now are rave reviews of his movie and TV projects, and those probably are long shots.
The critics are ripping the leading role he’s playing with the Lakers. A team the “King” was expected to guide to the playoffs has become a clown show in countless ways. The NBA’s version of March Madness is watching how low LeBron and the sub-.500 Lakers can go.
“I find it hard to believe LeBron won’t will his way into the playoffs, and I find it hard to believe the NBA doesn’t want LeBron in the playoffs,” William Hill sports book director Nick Bogdanovich said. “But the Lakers have had some really bad losses.”
This is how oddsmakers can take soap-opera storylines and make prop bets: Will the Lakers make the playoffs?
That question is the talk of the towns — Los Angeles and Las Vegas. The latter is where all bets are on when it comes to the polarizing Lakers.
When the Lakers stumbled into the All-Star break at 28-29, Westgate SuperBook manager Jeff Sherman decided to post the playoff prop. On Feb. 15, Sherman opened the Lakers’ price to make the playoffs at “No” -120. Three days later, it was -140.
The action was fast and furious, with wild adjustments in the price. Two weeks later, Sherman said, more than $100,000 has been wagered on the prop. There are several nickel ($500) and dime ($1,000) bets, plus a $10,000 “Yes” bet on the Lakers.
“This prop got so popular. It’s the most popular prop we’ve done in years,” Sherman said. “We have people with tons of opinions on both sides of it. We literally had a guy bet five dimes on ‘Yes’ and 10 minutes later another guy bet five dimes on the ‘No.’ ”
Erin Rynning, a professional bettor who focuses most on the NBA, said he considered putting a major “Yes” wager on the Lakers but opted to limit his play to $1,000 at +115 during the All-Star break.
“I’m not ready to write LeBron off yet, but I’m up against it,” Rynning said. “I should have stuck with my initial take of the Lakers putting together such a poor team.”
William Hill posted the prop about a week after the Westgate and opened the Lakers’ “No” price at -240. The other side was +200.
“The first bet was ‘Yes’ for $5,000,” Bogdanovich said.
How low can LeBron’s posse — as Phil Jackson would call it — go? The Lakers were 2-4 since the All-Star break heading into Monday night’s home game against the Clippers. The fourth loss, 118-109 at Phoenix on Saturday, was a whopper because the Suns had the worst record in the league, entering Monday. The Lakers dropped to 30-33, 4½ games behind San Antonio (35-29) for the eighth and final playoff spot in the West, with 19 games to go.
William Hill adjusted the prop price on Sunday to “No” -650/”Yes” +450. The Westgate went to “No” -900/”Yes” +600.
Before the season, the Westgate posted playoff props on each NBA team. At that point, the Lakers’ “Yes” price was -500, and Sherman said the Westgate took a $50,000 bet to win $10,000. Those team props were taken down when the season started and only the Lakers’ prop was reposted at the All-Star break.
Not only are gamblers losing faith in LeBron’s Lakers. Snoop Dogg posted a video in which he said he’ll sell his Lakers box seats for $5 for the remainder of the season.
“It’s [bleeping] terrible watching my Lakers play,” Snoop Dogg said. “Somebody got to go … starting with the coach. Get LeBron some [bleeping] help because these goofballs aren’t going to do [bleep].”
It’s worth recounting the ways the Lakers have unraveled into a wreck. On Christmas Day, the Lakers upset Golden State 127-101, despite James leaving the game with a groin injury, and were fourth in the West with a 20-14 record.
The Lakers, a motley crew of misfit veterans and young players from the start, went 6-12 in the 18 games James missed with the injury. James and team president Magic Johnson tried to get coach Luke Walton fired. James and Johnson tried to deal almost all of the Lakers’ prospects to New Orleans for Anthony Davis at the mid-February trade deadline. Obviously, those attempts failed and a bad situation turned ugly.
“The real interesting thing is the Lakers, before LeBron’s injury, probably would have been fighting for one of the middle playoff spots,” Sherman said. “LeBron didn’t look like he was 100 percent coming back, and the trade speculation fractured the locker room. A lot of young guys on that team have a fragile mentality, and they have not recovered from that.”
