Lakers 2017 Odds Attracting Interest as Team Off to Shock Start: Clippers Too

The Lakers were not supposed to be this good.  As of November 16, the team with the longest odds of winning anything have started the season 7-5 (yes, they have a winning record).  And then there’s the Clippers.  We’ll get to them momentarily.

The Lakers were at 200-1 of winning the NBA Championship and 100-1 of winning their division (the Clippers and Warriors are in that division).   While no longer available, the Lakers entered the season with odds of winning no more than 24.5 regular season games.

Andrew Lynch of Fox Sports believes hiring one of the best coaches in Luke Walton might have plenty to do with their early success:

He understands modern offense on a fundamental, almost instinctual level, since that's the game he played as a champion: Pass. Move. Make the right decision. Be a good teammate. And above all, enjoy the game. Success breeds joy, which breeds success. Walton instills both in equal parts on a daily basis. He's a player's coach in the most important sense — he makes them want to be their best and gives them the tools to make it so.

An overreaction a hot start? Maybe, but Walton's experience in 2015-16 counts for quite a bit in my book. It's easy for a cynic to write off his role in Golden State's record-setting start last season. The Warriors obviously had an extraordinary amount of talent. Yet how many head coaches, let alone assistants, could lead a team to 24 straight wins? Steve Kerr, probably. Gregg Popovich, almost certainly. Rick Carlise, Stan Van Gundy, Erik Spoelstra ... perhaps.

The Clippers are the best team in the league as of mid November, owning a 10-1 record.   This is making for a competitive NBA as we look towards 2017 as last season’s NBA Championship Cavs only had one loss as well (one less win than the Clippers) while the favorites to win the 2017 NBA Championship, Golden State, had only lost two games. 

- Tyrone Black, Gambling911.com