What is an NBA Player Prop?

NBA prop bets are any kind of side bet that doesn’t necessarily have a direct correlation to the outcome of an NBA game. NBA props are more for entertainment purposes and can include individual player performances, exact scores, team win totals, and more.

How to bet NBA Player Props?

NBA team props are based on a particular team’s performance in the game and not the game’s result. The most common NBA team prop bets are based on a team’s points. You can bet on the first team to score, the first team to reach 30 points, or you can wager on the OVER/UNDER for a team’s points total. Team props let you focus more on the performance of one team as opposed to two.

Besides points, there are also rebounds, assists, blocks, turnovers, and fouls per game, including metrics such as shooting percentage and three-point attempts per game. NBA team props can also consist of points in the paint or free-throw attempts. Similar to NFL props and MLB props, NBA props can vary from an individual matchup to a series or season. Common NBA team prop wagers include:

Player Props for NBA

Points

Scoring is the most popular NBA prop. Any listed player will have an OVER/UNDER line for his scoring total, where you can wager on either side. Let’s use the Los Angeles Lakers vs. the Golden State Warriors, for example. Steph Curry’s point total is set at 35.5. If you’ve seen Chef Curry play basketball over the past five years, you’re likely betting on the OVER.

Rebounds

Prop bets on rebounds aren’t quite as popular as points. And as you may have assumed, big men often own the rebounding category, unless, of course, we’re talking about a non-traditional big like the Greek Freak. Giannis Antetokounmpo is often considered as much a wing player for the Milwaukee Bucks as he is a big man despite the Shaq comparisons.

Assists

Another common NBA prop bet is how unselfish a player will be. The majority of assists will come from the point guard position, but LeBron James, Nikola Jokic, and Draymond Green know how to drop dimes too.

3PTM

The modern NBA features tons of attempts from beyond the arc. And as the average three-pointer attempts per game have increased, so has the appetite for three-pointer prop betting. Be sure to research a player’s three-point shooting percentage and volume of attempts before betting the OVER or UNDER on his 3PTM prop.

Steals

Some players have a knack for pickpocketing their opponents. Like three-pointer props, do your research on which players record the most steals and which opposing teams frequently cough up the ball.

Blocks

Unsurprisingly, the NBA’s big men rack up the most blocks, and some giants do a better job of rim-protecting than others.

PRA

If you don’t want to bet on a particular player prop, you can always wager on a combination prop. Rather than hitting the OVER or UNDER in one specific statistical category, NBA combination props allow you to place bets on a player’s total points, rebounds, and assists.

RA

Maybe you don’t even want any points in your bet at all. If that’s your cup of tea, then go for the rebounds + assists props wager.

PA

Dimes and buckets! You can tailor your NBA prop bets however you please, including specific combined bets on points + assists.

SB

If your favorite player is a defensive whiz, then maybe a steals + blocks prop bet is your best avenue to a fatter bankroll.

Double-Doubles and Triple-Doubles

No, this has nothing to do with coffee (a little Canadian joke for you). For a double-double, a player has to score at least 10 points and grab at least 10 rebounds or dish out 10 assists. For a triple-double, a player needs to register double digits in all three categories (points + rebounds + assists). For someone like Rudy Gobert, you can replace assists with blocks, but 10 steals in an NBA game almost hardly ever happens (we see you, T.J. McConnell).

Players like Russell Westbrook, Luka Doncic, and James Harden are known for racking up double-doubles and triple-doubles as they often contribute across the stats board. “Specialists” such as Carmelo Anthony (points), Steven Adams (rebounds), and Ricky Rubio (assists) are better served for individual props because they’re known as much for their “empty stats” as they are for what they actually do best.