Oddsmakers give Lakers a slim chance of success this season

Kobe Bryant sits behind the Lakers' bench during the team's season opener against the Clippers at Staples Center on Tuesday.

By Eric Pincus

Oct. 31, 2013 1:09 PM PT

The Lakers opened the season with one impressive win and one impressive loss.

Expectations by and large are low for the franchise. Oddsmaker MyTopSportsBooks.com gives the Lakers 40-1 odds to win the 2013-14 NBA championship.

Pregame.com isn’t quite as generous, giving the Lakers 75-1 odds and picking the team to win 35 games.

Good news from MyTopSportsBooks.com for Coach Mike D’Antoni -- he’s not a top-three favorite to be the first coach fired (that goes to his former assistant Steve Clifford of the Charlotte Bobcats with 4-5 odds).

The site doesn’t list Kobe Bryant, recovering from Achilles’ tendon surgery, as a favorite to win the NBA’s MVP award -- but Pregame.com at least gives scant MVP odds of 3,000-1.

Despite his injury, MyTopSportsBooks.com makes Bryant a 5-1 favorite to finish with the scoring title (the same as LeBron James). Kevin Durant is the favorite with odds of 33-20.

The Miami Heat is favored to win another NBA title, getting at least 2-1 odds from both gambling sites.

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Email Eric Pincus at [email protected] and follow him on Twitter @EricPincus.