INCLUDING multi-million contracts and endorsements deals, professional basketball players earn ridiculously obscene amounts of money. Let’s not be surprised with those on this list as they had always been consistently the top National Basketball Association (NBA) money makers.
For seven straight years, LeBron James had hit the jackpot. He “only” has a salary of $31.4 million but will earn an additional $64 million from endorsements. His total take home pay of $95.4 million for the year is the highest ever in American team sports and is an NBA record in terms of earnings.
According to Kurt Badenhausen of Forbes magazine, LeBron will reach the $1 billion mark in career earnings this year. He will be the fifth active athlete to make a billion behind golf’s Tiger Woods, Floyd Mayweather, Jr. of boxing, and football heroes Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi.
LeBron’s present endorsement deals with Nike, AT&T, GMC, Beats, Rimowa, Walmart, and Blaze Pizza will net him $700 million of that $1 billion, Badenhausen noted. After his deal with Coca-Cola, LeBron is expected to sign with PepsiCo, pitching Mountain Dew.
Stephen Curry is next with $74.4 million, with $40 million from off court sources. He is the NBA’s highest paid with a salary of $34.4 million. The bulk of his endorsement income comes from Under Armour with $20 million, the rest coming from Callaway Golf, Chase, Nissan Motors, Rakuten, and his production company Unanimous Media hooking up with Sony Pictures.
Kevin Durant found a new home in Brooklyn and now ranks third in the NBA’s top money makers. His company, Thirty Five Ventures, has a 15 full-time employees focusing on his endorsement deals, startup investments, and media production which makes series and shows for Apple, ESPN, and YouTube. He earns a total of $65.2 million, $40.1 of it coming from his salary.
Russell Westbrook is number four on the list with $58 million in earnings, $41 million coming from his salary. Most of his endorsement income comes from Nike but he also earns by representing Samsung and PepsiCo. He owns ten car dealerships in Southern California.
Number five is James Harden. The bearded one earns a total of $50 million from salaries and endorsements. His $33 million in salaries is boosted by an additional $17million from his deals with Adidas ($14 million) the rest scattered among home fragrance brand Pura, Stance, Body Armor, and Art of Sport, a skin care product made for athletes.
Rounding up the top ten are GIannis Antetokounmpo with $49 million ($22m salary, $27m endorsements); Klay Thompson, $43.3 million ($28.3m salary, $15m endorsements); Kyrie Irving, $43 million ($26m salary, $17 endorsements); Chris Paul, $40.1 million ($33.1m salary, $7m endorsements); and Damian Lillard, $39 million ($25m salary, $14m endorsements)/PN
