Sports betting roundup: The Thunder are already favored to repeat as NBA champions

Fresh off winning the NBA title, the Oklahoma City Thunder are already favored to repeat next year.

The Thunder beat the Indiana Pacers 103-91 in Game 7 on Sunday to claim the franchise's second NBA title — they won the 1979 championship as the Seattle SuperSonics.

Oklahoma City opened the year at +950 to win it all, but those odds shortened throughout the year, down to -175 going into the conference finals.

At the BetMGM online sportsbook, Oklahoma City is the overwhelming favorite to repeat, with +240 odds to win. The next closest teams are the Cleveland Cavaliers and New York Knicks at +700.

After reportedly landing Kevin Durant via a trade over the weekend, the Houston Rockets are +800.

For Game 7, Oklahoma City opened as a 9.5-point favorite but closed as a 6.5-point favorite. The Thunder easily covered, taking in 39% of the bets and 53% of the money. On the moneyline, Indiana closed at +225 and took in 88% of the bets and 81% of the money.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander was the NBA Finals MVP. Going into the year, he was +900 to win the award and took in 41% of the bets, which were the most among any player.

The over-under closed at 214.5 and easily went under. Since 2005, the under is now 41-26 in NBA Game 7s, including 5-0 in the NBA Finals.

Keegan Bradley won the Travelers Championship for the second time in three years. He birdied the 72nd hole while Tommy Fleetwood bogeyed to give Bradley a one-shot victory. Going into the event, Bradley was +3300 to win. Going into the final round with a three-shot deficit, he was +400.

In Major League Baseball, the Athletics fell to the Guardians 3-0 on Sunday. The A's (+105) were the third-most bet team in terms of bets and money.

The PGA Tour will head to Detroit for the Rocket Classic this week, which will have a stronger field than in past years.

Collin Morikawa has the best odds to win at +1200, followed by Patrick Cantlay (+1400), Keegan Bradley (+1600) and Ben Griffin (+2000).

This column was provided to The Associated Press by BetMGM online sportsbook.

AP sports: https://apnews.com/hub/sports

Athletics pitcher JP Sears throws to the Cleveland Guardians during the second inning of a baseball game Sunday, June 22, 2025, in West Sacramento, Calif. (AP Photo/Sara Nevis)

Keegan Bradley, right, chest bumps his caddie Scott Vail, left, in celebration after winning of the Travelers Championship golf tournament at TPC River Highlands, Sunday, June 22, 2025, in Cromwell, Conn. (AP Photo/Jessica Hill)

FILE - Phoenix Suns forward Kevin Durant gestures during the second half of an NBA basketball game on March 9, 2025, in Dallas. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez, File)

Oklahoma City Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (2) shoots against Indiana Pacers center Myles Turner (33) during the first half of Game 7 of the NBA Finals basketball series Sunday, June 22, 2025, in Oklahoma City. (AP Photo/Kyle Phillips)

Oklahoma City Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, center, holds up the MVP trophy as he celebrates with his team after they won the NBA basketball championship with a Game 7 victory against the Indiana Pacers Sunday, June 22, 2025, in Oklahoma City. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Bob Weir, guitarist, singer and founding member of the Grateful Dead, has died at age 78.

Weir's death was announced Saturday in a statement on his Instagram page.

“It is with profound sadness that we share the passing of Bobby Weir,” the statement said. “He transitioned peacefully, surrounded by loved ones, after courageously beating cancer as only Bobby could. Unfortunately, he succumbed to underlying lung issues.”

Weir joined the Grateful Dead — originally the Warlocks — in 1965 in San Francisco at just 17 years old. He'd spend the next 30 years playing on endless tours with the Grateful Dead alongside fellow singer and guitarist Jerry Garcia, who died in 1995.

Weir wrote or co-wrote and sang lead vocals on Dead classics including “Sugar Magnolia,” “One More Saturday Night” and “Mexicali Blues.”

In the decades since he kept playing with other projects including Dead and Company.

“For over sixty years, Bobby took to the road,” the Instagram statement said. A guitarist, vocalist, storyteller, and founding member of the Grateful Dead. Bobby will forever be a guiding force whose unique artistry reshaped American music.”

Weir’s death leaves drummer Bill Kreutzmann as the only surviving original member. Founding bassist Phil Lesh died in 2024.

Dead and Company played a series of concert’s for the Grateful Dead’s 60th anniversary in July at Golden Gate Park in San Francisco.

Born in San Francisco and raised in nearby Atherton, Weir was the Dead's youngest member and looked like a fresh-faced high-schooler in its early years. He was generally less shaggy than the rest of the band, but had a long beard like Garcia’s in later years.

The band would survive long past the hippie moment of its birth, with its fans known as Deadheads often following them on the road in a virtually non-stop tour.

“Longevity was never a major concern of ours,” Weir said when the Dead got the Grammys' Musicares Person of the Year honor last year. “Spreading joy through the music was all we ever really had in mind and we got plenty of that done.”

FILE - Bob Weir plays guitar with his band The Dead, formerly the Grateful Dead, at the Forum in the Inglewood section of Los Angeles, Calif. on Saturday May 9, 2009. (AP Photo/Richard Vogel,File)

FILE - This undated file photo shows members of the Grateful Dead band, from left to right, Mickey Hart, Phil Lesh, Jerry Garcia, Brent Mydland, Bill Kreutzmann, and Bob Weir. (AP Photo/File)

FILE - Kennedy Center Honors recipients from left; filmmaker Francis Ford Coppola, the legendary American rock band the Grateful Dead band members Mickey Hart, Bill Kreutzmann Bob Weir and blues rock singer-songwriter and guitarist Bonnie Raitt, applaud at at the 2024 Kennedy Center Honors reception in the East Room of the White House, Sunday, Dec. 8, 2024, in Washington. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta,File)

FILE - Bob Weir arrives at Willie Nelson 90, celebrating the singer's 90th birthday on Saturday, April 29, 2023, at the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles. (Photo by Allison Dinner/Invision/AP,File)

FILE - Bob Weir of Dead & Company performs at Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival on Sunday, June 12, 2016, in Manchester, Tenn. (Photo by Amy Harris/Invision/AP,File)