This winter, the NBA has plenty of competition for viewership. The NFL is reaching the business end of its season, with the playoffs rapidly approaching. Then there’s the small matter of the 2022 FIFA World Cup, which has taken the planet by storm. The soccer spectacular usually takes place in the months of June and July – but thanks to the soaring summer temperatures in the host nation of Qatar – the tournament had to be moved to the winter.
All that added competition could see basketball pushed down the pecking order until the new year. But while the impressive starts to the new campaign by the Boston Celtics and Milwaukee Bucks may have gone under the radar for some sports fans, we have certainly been monitoring them closely. The same can be said for online bookmakers. The Celtics have won 20 games in their first 25 and, as such, OddsChecker, which compares NBA free bets and odds, has made them the favorites to lift the Larry O’Brien for the first time in over a decade.
With that being said, it is in Massachusetts where we start. Here are the favorites to win the NBA Championship this season.
Boston Celtics
Last season was a throwback to former glories in Boston. Despite making it to the end-of-season playoffs in 14 of the last 15 seasons, and making it to the conference finals in four of the last six campaigns, the Celtics hadn’t made it to the NBA finals since way back in 2010. That all changed last term when the TD Garden-based outfit defeated the Brooklyn Nets, Milwaukee Bucks and Miami Heat en route to the final showdown.
In the end, however, Stephen Curry and his all-conquering Golden State Warriors had too much for Jayson Tatum and co. The San Francisco side defeated their opponents in six, despite the Celtics leading 2-1 after the first three games of the series. As such, the 14-year wait for success of Joe Mazzulla’s side goes on.
It’s scarcely believable that the drought has stretched on that far. Alongside the Los Angeles Lakers, the Celtics are the most successful franchise in basketball history, lifting the O’Brien trophy 16 times throughout their illustrious history. Fifteen of those successes, however, came between 1957 and 1986. They then had to endure a 22-year wait for their 16th crown.
The Celtics’ current drought hasn’t stretched that long just yet though, and they will be hoping to right the wrong of last season’s finals disappointment next May.
Milwaukee Bucks
Another team which has started the season in impressive fashion are the Milwaukee Bucks. They have won 17 of their opening 23 fixtures this term, and in Giannis Antetokounmpo they have perhaps the finest player in the league on his day. Last season he averaged 29.9 points per game, a tally only topped by Joel Embiid of the Philadelphia 76ers.
And this term ‘The Greek Freak’ has continued in the same vain. He has upped his points per game average to a mighty 31.9 throughout the start of the 2022/23 season. Only the Dallas Mavericks’ Luka Doncic can match that.
With Antetokounmpo leading the way, the Bucks ended a drought of their own back in 2021, winning the NBA Championship for just the second time in franchise history and the first time in half a century. The Wisconsin-based outfit has reached the postseason in each of their previous six seasons, and it would take a brave punter to bet against them making it seven on the bounce this term.
Golden State Warriors
No list of favorites is complete without mentioning the Golden State Warriors. Their dominance over the NBA in recent years has been unlike anything we have seen before. They have won four of the championships in the last eight years and have reached the finals an incredible six times during the same time frame – including five consecutive appearances between 2015 and 2019.
Following that incredible run, however, they did take a three-year hiatus, before returning to the finals last season and once again winning it all. As such, they enter the 2022/23 season as the reigning champions, but the defense of their crown hasn’t gotten off to the finest of starts. So far this term, they have a record of 13 wins and 12 losses and haven’t quite clicked through the gears as they would have liked. But with Steph Curry in their ranks, they can never be written off.
Ever since he was drafted to Golden State as the seventh pick overall back in 2009, the franchise has gone from strength to strength. As has the player. Since his debut for the Warriors, Curry has posted an average of 24.44 points per game. Of the players still currently plying their trade in the NBA, only LeBron James, Kevin Durant, James Harden and Damian Lillard can beat that tally. Truly elite company.
When it comes to NBA championship-winning rings, it is only ‘King James’ that can match Curry and his Golden State teammates. And with both Curry and LeBron tied on four rings overall, it’s very possible that one of them will take a stranglehold on proceedings this season.
Los Angeles Lakers
While we’re on the topic of LeBron James, it would be impossible to exclude him from the list of favorites for the O’Brien Trophy, despite the Lakers’ poor start to the campaign.
Many will roll their eyes at us including the Los Angeles outfit in our list of favorites, especially
considering the fact that they currently have more losses than wins so far this term. But we know better than to rule out LeBron, and so should all of you. Prior to the GOAT’s arrival in California back in 2018, the Lakers hadn’t reached the postseason playoffs in five years. And they hadn’t won a playoff game in a year longer than that, famously being routed 4-0 by the San Antonio Spurs in the 2012/13 season.
To make matters worse, the Lakers hadn’t reached the NBA Finals since they won back-to-back championships in 2009 and 2010. But what did LeBron do in his first full non-injury-riddled season in LA? Only bring the trophy to the city for the first time in a decade. And if you think he isn’t planning on doing exactly the same this term, think again. Write King James and his Lakers off at your peril.
