The Oklahoma City Thunder finished off the Indiana Pacers 103-91 in Game 7 on Sunday night, winning the first championship in OKC franchise history and covering as 6.5-point home favorites.
While it was an exciting game for fans to watch, one bettor was likely on the edge of his seat throughout. And it wasn’t even the BetMGM bettor in Nevada who had wagered $1.05 million on the Thunder at -700 odds to win $150,000.
BetMGM reported on X on Monday afternoon that one bettor in Ohio wagered a staggering $8 million on the Thunder to win the NBA Finals at -700 odds on June 5, the night of Game 1.
The $8 million wager is one of the largest in legal U.S. sports betting history. Jim “Mattress Mack” McIngvale had a $3 million wager on the Houston Astros to win the World Series at 10-1 odds back in 2022, which cashed when the Astros beat the Philadelphia Phillies in six games.
The OKC wager was a larger initial stake, but the bet won “just” $1,142,857.15 after Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Co. pulled away late to defeat the Pacers.
Oklahoma City opened as a +240 favorite to win the 2025-26 NBA title at BetMGM, the shortest preseason odds for any team since the 2018-19 Golden State Warriors — a team that was an odds-on favorite (-168) to win the championship, according to Sports Odds History. That Warriors team ended up making its fifth consecutive NBA Finals that season, but lost to the Toronto Raptors after both Kevin Durant and Klay Thompson were injured in the postseason.
The Cleveland Cavaliers (+700) and New York Knicks (+700) have the next-best odds — and best odds in the Eastern Conference — while the Houston Rockets (+800) have the best odds of any other Western Conference team outside the Thunder.
With the Thunder looking like long-term contenders, this likely won’t be the last massive wager on them.
