LeBron James may be on the verge of leading his Cleveland Cavaliers to the NBA title, which would assuredly help him line his checking account with a few more dollars.
Not that he needs it.
According to Forbes annual list of the world’s highest-paid athletes, King James comes in No. 1 overall among basketball players. The two-time NBA champion is sixth among all athletes with a whopping annual pay of $64.8 million, right ahead of Oklahoma City Thunder forward Kevin Durant ($54.1 million).
The interesting thing here is that NBA’s golden boy, Kobe Bryant, comes in third behind James and Durant at $49.5 million.
As Nike’s go-to-guy, this shouldn’t be too much of a surprise. And in reality, James pretty much has his hand in every lucrative venture available to players in today’s NBA.
Derrick Rose ($33.9 million) and Carmelo Anthony ($30.5 million) round out the five highest-paid basketball players in the world.
Interestingly, not a single member of the Western Conference champion Golden State Warriors makes an appearance in the top 100.
Looking at the list in its entirety, Floyd Mayweather comes in at No. 1 overall with $300 million in pay. That’s $140 million more than the second highest-paid athlete on the list, rival Manny Pacquiao.
Photo: USA Today Sports