Sports betting in the NBA has gotten stagnant in recent seasons. It hasn’t been due to the colorful antics of the Washington Bullets’ all-star forward and perennial all-interview team member, Gilbert Arenas. The problem for the Wizards and sports odds fans have been that all of Arenas’ statements have been made in the media and none on the court. Injuries have kept him out of action for most of the past few sports seasons.
Sports fans found out recently that Arenas will miss even more time. He is expected to return to the competition this year 100% healthy after missing most of last season. Some sports reports claim he’ll miss the first month of the NBA sports betting odds season while other put the date closer to January at the earliest.
For the NBA it’s awful in terms of sports betting odds, marketing and competition perspective. Arenas’ presence on a very good Washington Bullets team could make this club an NBA sports betting playoff contender. But if he doesn’t return, this team could find itself behind the 8-ball, risking a rotten seed in the playoffs. And the NBA loves to market superstars, which Arenas certainly could be if he ever gets back on the sports court.
From a fan’s perspective this is also a terrible blow as Arenas is one of the best players in the game when healthy, a very infrequent occurrence in the past few sports betting seasons. For fans that enjoy sports betting it’s a bit of a mixed reaction, but any time one of the league’s stars goes down the competition in the sports betting drops off and nobody wants to see that.
The Eastern Conference is resurfacing in the NBA and among NBA sports fans. Arenas would have been a major catalyst in the effort to raise the profile of the East in the eyes of sports odds fans, and he still could be. But it seems a bit unlikely at this juncture. Even keeping in mind that Arenas is just 26 years old and just signed a large long-term contract, a comeback from such a severe knee injury is not common. No doubt he’ll be back, but the question on the minds of betting fans is not only when, but will he ever be the same type of player he was before?
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