A bold sports bettor fired away with a $10,000 wager on the Washington Wizards to win the 2021 NBA Championship at 500/1 odds (or +50000), which would pay out $5 million. BetMGM reported that they accepted the moon-shot wager on the Wizards.
There’s no word yet on the identity of the bettor who wants to win $5 million, but you have to assume that they’re a huge fan of the Wizards, or one of their stars such as Bradley Beal or Russell Westbrook.
The Wizards (8-19) aren’t the worst team in the NBA, but they’re not far from it. The bottom-feeding Wizards are hanging out with the Detroit Pistons in the Eastern Conference basement this season.
The Wizards are 9.5 games out of first place, but only four games behind the Toronto Raptors, who currently occupy the #8 seed in the Eastern Conference. After starting the season 3-12, the Wizards went 5-5 in their last 10 games.
The Wizards have two All-Star studs with Beal and Westbrook, plus a couple of up-and-coming young players like Thomas Bryant, Rui Hachimura, and rookie Deni Avidja from Israel. They lack the bench depth and have a bloody awful defense that allows 119.1 ppg — the second-worst D in the NBA.
The Wizards, thanks to heroics from Beal and Westbrook, upset the Brooklyn Nets a couple of weeks ago by knocking down two 3-pointers in 3.8 seconds.
The Minnesota Timberwolves (7-20) are the worst team in the Western Conference and the only team with fewer wins than the Wizards and Pistons.
JUST IN:
One bettor in Vegas just placed a $10,000 wager on the Wizards to win the NBA Championship
The wager would win $5,000,000 💰 pic.twitter.com/Qt0JTnTLbk
— BetMGM 🦠(@BetMGM) February 16, 2021
Beal and Westbrook Show in DC
The Wizards won two games in a row, including a 131-119 victory over the Houston Rockets. The two teams swapped stars before the season began when the Wizards traded John Wall and a first-round pick to the Rockets in exchange for Russell Westbrook.
Westbrook tallied a triple-double against his former squad with 16 points, 15 assists, and 13 rebounds in the win. Wall scored a team-high 29 points and added 11 assists in the loss for the short-handed Rockets, who were missing Christian Wood, Victor Oladipo, PJ Tucker, and Eric Gordon.
When Wall arrived in Houston, he didn’t have to worry about sharing the ball with James Harden because the Rockets shipped Harden to the Brooklyn Nets in a four-team trade. Now, Wall is struggling to guide the erratic and streaky Rockets. At 11-16, the Rockets are ranked #14 in the Western Conference, yet they’re just 3.5 games out of the #8 seed.
Beal leads the NBA in scoring with 33.1 points per game. In early January, Beal lit up the Philadelphia 76ers for a career-high 60 points. Westbrook missed five games due to rest and minor injuries, but he’s nearly averaging a triple-double with 19.3 points, 9.4 assists, and 9.2 rebounds per game.
Wizard Moon Shot
If you had $10,000 burning a hole in your pocket, you could probably think of many better choices than to bet on the Wizards to win the NBA Championship. The sensational Utah Jazz offer up tremendous value at 8/1 odds or +800. They’re the only NBA team in the top five in both offensive and defensive efficiency. The Jazz are also riding high on an eight-game winning streak. To put that in perspective, the Wizards won eight games all season.
If you’re looking to make a similar moon-shot bet to win $5 million on the Wizards, or a bet on a long shot with astronomical odds, then take a look at the San Antonio Spurs. Over at the Westgate SuperBook in Las Vegas, the Spurs have similar odds as the Wizards.
The Spurs (16-11) are currently in the sixth spot in the Western Conference playoff race, and have the eighth-best record and winning percentage in the NBA. The Spurs are trying to contain a COVID-19 outbreak and had four games postponed, so they’ll be well-rested when they return to the hardwood next week.
