Legal NBA Betting Sites
Betting on the NBA (National Basketball Association) began a dramatic rise in popularity in 1979 when Magic Johnson and Larry Bird were drafted, becoming one of the greatest sports rivalries of all time and pushing pro basketball to new heights and into the mainstream sports media.
We created this NBA betting guide to pass on our knowledge of betting on professional basketball, and to offer our suggestions to the best online sportsbooks offering NBA odds. When picking an online sportsbook, it’s our goal to make sure you don’t get hit with a technical and aim to provide you with the most trusted legal online betting sites in the industry, so your winning wagers are nothin’ but net.
Is Online NBA Betting Legal in the United States?
Offshore: Yes. Currently, there are no federal laws in the U.S. that prohibit placing a bet on NBA games at legal sports betting sites operating in a jurisdiction outside of the USA. There are a bunch out there, and the ones we recommend in this guide have been reviewed by our team of industry professionals to ensure that each is both legal and safe.
Domestic: States have begun the process of legalizing sports betting across the country following the repeal of PASPA, but the legislative process has been slow and many still do not allow online sports betting sites offering NBA lines.
The Best Online NBA Sportsbook In The USA
Bovada Sportsbook
#1 Rated Online Sportsbook For USA Players
Bovada is one of the biggest and most reputable names in online NBA betting. The site has thousands of game lines to choose from every single day of the season, and if you don't see anything you like, you can create your own NBA odds with the Bovada Prop Builder tool!
Site Rating
Compability
Pros
US Friendly - Most US States Accepted
Most reputable name in online sports betting
Licensed by Curacao - Operates within Costa Rica
Generous 50% bonus up to $1,000 for new members
Easy deposits using credit cards or Bitcoin/crypto
Fast and reliable payouts guaranteed
Cons
Only US, Mexico and Brazil players accepted
Excluded States: CO, CT, DC, DE, KS, LA, MD, MI, NJ, NV, NY, OH, PA, WV
Limited deposit options compared to other sites
The Best NBA Betting Sites
| Site | Review | Bonus Offer | USA | Visit |
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NBA Teams, Divisions, And Conference Alignment
The NBA has 30 professional basketball teams that play in the Eastern and Western Conference. These two conferences are split into three divisions, containing five teams each:
NBA Eastern Conference
| Atlantic Division | Central Division | Southeast Division |
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NBA Western Conference
| Northwest Division | Pacific Division | Southwest Division |
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Every NBA team plays an 82-game regular-season schedule. 8 teams from each conference advance to the NBA Playoffs to compete for a chance to reach the Finals. Seeds 7-10 compete for the 7 and 8 spots in the Play-In Tournament to initiate the postseason.
2024-25 NBA Schedule
- Season Begins: October 22, 2024
- All-Star Weekend: February 14-16, 2025 (San Francisco, CA)
- Season Ends: April 13, 2025
- Play-In Tournament: April 15, 2025
- First Round of Playoffs: April 19, 2025
- NBA Finals: June 5, 2025
How To Bet On NBA Games – Point Spreads & Moneylines Explained
During an NBA season, betting lines for each individual game and betting lines for the NBA Finals receive the bulk of the action, and the two most essential bets to build a bankroll are the point spread and the money line. All examples are courtesy of Bovada.
NBA Point Spread
The point spread bet in the NBA is identical to the one found in other sports leagues such as the NFL, where the betting line is used to handicap a favorite and create a perceived equal bet to both sides regardless of talent level.
In professional sports, the margin of a point spread is typically much smaller due to the amount of parity within the league, and this remains true when looking at the game lines.
In the example, we can see the Nuggets are the home team and the favorite to win against the Lakers. This is indicated by the negative number outside the parenthesis.
For a bet to be won on the Nuggets, the team must beat the Lakers by 5 points or more. On the flip side, for a winning Lakers bet, the team must lose by 3 or fewer points to the Nuggets or win the game by any margin.
The odds are always located within the parenthesis and indicate the amount of money needed to place a bet and the potential payout. For this example, (-110) means 110 units of money, like $110, needs to be wagered to win 100 units of money, which would be $100.
Keep in mind that NBA game betting lines do change, which is dictated by how much money comes in on one of the two sides. The sportsbook will change it in this case as the game gets closer to tipoff but won’t change it once you lock in your bet.
NBA Moneyline Odds
A money line bet on a game is much simpler to understand since it is a straight bet solely on which team will win the game.
Because of this, and there being no spread involved, the NBA Vegas odds are what is affected by the amount of action that comes in one of the two sides.
For this example, only the odds are displayed, and as mentioned above, this determines how much money must be wagered on either side and what the payout will be.
The Pelicans are the favorite at home, as indicated by the negative number, and a bet on them needs 135 units to win 100 units. For the Celtics, 100 units must be wagered and should they win, as the underdog, you’ll win 115 units.
The reason more units need to be wagered on and the payout is lower for the favorite is because they are the team more likely to win and the opposite is true for the underdog, where fewer units must be bet to win a larger amount due to the outcome being less likely to happen.
NBA Prop Bets
Anything that happens during the telecast of a game can be bet on when shopping NBA prop bets at online sportsbooks. This includes odds for if a head coach will get ejected, if a player will foul out, and also involves statistical achievements with overs and unders.
Don't go looking for NBA prop bets at domestic books, at least not in the volume that you'll find at offshore sportsbooks like we link to in this guide, which is one of many reasons we suggest you become a member with one or more of them today.
NBA Futures Betting
NBA futures betting involves a list of all playoff eligible franchises with moneyline odds listed next to each. Bets that are placed on the team that wins the Finals on that given year will earn gamblers a handsome payout because futures almost always feature positive moneylines for all franchises involved.
That means that more money can be won that was risked on the champion, but with 30 teams in play, there are 29 losers on the board.
Where To Bet On NBA Games Online
While we don't suggest avoiding domestic sportsbooks altogether, we do recommend doing most of your business with offshore NBA betting sites like the ones listed above. The reasons are plenty.
- Open 24/7
- Variety Of Banking Options (Cryptocurrency & US Dollar)
- Sportsbook Promo Codes For Extra Betting Cash
- Allows Members At 18 Years Old
10 Fun Facts You Didn't Know About The NBA
- The Boston Celtics have won 18 championships, the most of any team, but not by a large margin. The Los Angeles Lakers are second with 17 titles.
- Bill Russell won 11 championships during his 12 appearances in the finals during his career with the Boston Celtics, more than any other player. In addition, from 1959-66, the Celtics won 8 straight titles, which is still the record for most consecutive titles won in any North American professional sports league.
- Kareem Abdul-Jabbar is the all-time leader in scoring with 38,387 points scored during his 20-year career.
- The shortest player, Moggsy Bogues (5’3”), and the tallest player, Manute Bol (7’7”), in NBA history played on the same team during the 1987-88 season for the then-Washington Bullets.
- When Michael Jordan played college basketball at North Carolina, his team won the 1982 National Championship, and he believed the shorts he played in were lucky. For the rest of his historic career, he wore his North Carolina shorts underneath his NBA shorts and is credited for the longer shorts all players wear today.
- Shaquille O’Neal made 11,196 shots during his career but made only one 3-point field goal, which came on February 16, 1996.
- Kobe Bryant was the 13th pick in the 1996 NBA Draft and needed his parents to co-sign his contract because he was under 18 at the time.
- LeBron James is ambidextrous, meaning he can use both his left and right hand equally well. He always shoots with his right hand and has said he does pretty much everything else in life with his left hand.
- There has never been a quintuple-double stat line recorded for any game in history, which would be at least double-digit stats in any five categories (points, rebounds, assists, etc.), but four players have managed to record a quadruple-double during a single game.
- Oscar Robertson was the only player to average a triple-double for an entire season, his 1961-62 season until Russel Westbrook averaged 31.6 points, 10.7 rebounds, and 10.4 assists per game during his 2016-17 season. Westbrook accomplished this feat again during the 2017-18 season, becoming the first player to average a triple-double for an entire season twice.
How The NBA Got Started
THE BEGINNING OF THE NBA
In the early 1900s, several leagues sought to give college graduates a chance to make a living off playing basketball as a profession.
The early leagues had a rough time appealing to viewers and often played games in small collegiate basketball arenas, high school gymnasiums, and even ballroom dance halls.
There were numerous leagues popping up during this volatile time. Owners of major ice hockey arenas in the Northeast formed a league called the Basketball Association of America (BAA), which was founded in New York City on June 6, 1946. The BAA would eventually bring professional basketball to millions around the globe after merging with the National Basketball League (NBL) on August 3, 1949. It was during that merger when a new name, the National Basketball Association (NBA), was adopted.