According to a handful of Las Vegas boomakers, this year’s Golden State Warriors would have greater odds if they hopped inside a time-machine and faced off against Michael Jordan and the 1996 Chicago Bulls.
The Dubs, up 2-0 in the NBA Finals against the defending champion Cleveland Cavaliers, have been favored in every postseason game.
I spoke to several Las Vegas bookmakers who would favor this year's Warriors team over MJ's Bulls squad in a series: https://t.co/6Gw5zExDCg
— Ben Fawkes (@BFawkesESPN) June 5, 2017
The legendary ’96 Bulls won 72 regular season games en route to a fourth championship.
Per ESPN:
Four of the five (bookmakers) had the Warriors favored, from as high as -8 at the MGM (per Jay Rood, vice president of race and sports at MGM Resorts) to as low as -3 at the Wynn (per Johnny Avello, sportsbook manager at the Wynn).
Chris Andrews, sportsbook director at South Point, wasn’t crazy about the comparison but said “it would have to be pretty close to pick-em, point spread and series. It would depend on [which team] could force its style on the other.”
Westgate Las Vegas SuperBook manager Jeff Sherman set the line at Golden State -6.5 and a series price of Chicago +300 and Golden State -360.
“It’s a different era now, and today’s game is played at a pace unlike in the 1990s,” Sherman said. “Players are bigger, faster and stronger than back then.”
