This is one bet that Damarious Randall might hope he loses. The former Green Bay Packer became a Cleveland Brown by trade in March, but he isn’t winning over fans in his new hometown after taunting the Cavaliers, who are underdogs in the NBA finals against the Golden State Warriors.
Randall wrote on Twitter Monday, “If the Cleveland Cavaliers win the 2018 NBA finals I’ll buy everyone who retweets this a jersey.”
By Thursday, he had nearly 1 million retweets. which could cost the 25-year-old player some serious coin. If the Cavaliers pull off an upset, Randall could be on the hook for upwards of $100 million, depending on what kind of discount he could get for buying in bulk. Regardless, the $1.5 million he’s set to make this year with the Browns wouldn’t be enough to cover it.
One Cleveland fan doubted Randle would pay up on his bet if the Cavaliers pulled off the miracle and won the NBA Championship title. Randle assured him he would.
“Zero chance he delivers,” the fan posted on Twitter.
“100 percent,” Randle replied.
Historically Wide Spread
It is a relatively safe bet, at least according to oddsmakers. Most sportsbooks have Golden State as the overwhelming favorite to easily win the NBA Finals. The Western Conference Champions are a 1/10 pick to win, while the Eastern champ Cavaliers are at 5/1.
The line is the second largest spread for an NBA game in 18 years. Only the LA Lakers 1/20 odds to defeat Philadelphia in 2001 was bigger. (Shaquille O’Neal and the Lakers won the series in five games.)
About the only question now for oddsmakers is how many games it will take Golden State to dispatch Cleveland. The Westgate Las Vegas SuperBook has the Warriors closing out the Cavs in five games as the most likely scenario, paying +130. A sweep is the next possibility, at +160. Winning in six games is at +550, and winning in seven is +700.
The books are giving little chance to Cleveland to winning in any amount of games. The lowest is the Cavs in six at +2000. Betting Cleveland will sweep the favored Warriors is paying +30000. That extra zero isn’t a typo.
Poking Cavs Fans
Randle has been taunting his new city for a few days now, showing them that even though he shares a city with LeBron James, his loyalty is with the Warriors. He has been putting up tweets that have purposely tried to get under the Cleveland faithful.
One tweet talked about how much he looked forward to watching Warriors guard Steph Curry light up the Cavaliers. Another boasted about he’ll be courtside in Cleveland rooting for the Warriors.
Not surprisingly Cleveland fans haven’t taken kindly to Randle’s taunting. They have let him have it on social media.
Josh Stefanow posted on Randle’s page what kind of support he can expect when the Browns’ season starts in August.
“Damarious Randall’s Cleveland fanbase love – 03/09/18 – 05/27/18. RIP. Cause of death: Self inflicted anti-Cleveland tweet,” Stefanow wrote.
One teammate tried to counteract Randall’s anti-Cleveland Cavaliers stance. New quarterback Tyrod Taylor posted on his Twitter account a supportive message for the Cavs.
