Magic Johnson, James Worthy, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Shaquille O’Neal, and Kobe Bryant have all graced the Lakers‘ arena since the 1980s. In an incredible 20-season span, Bryant spent the most seasons with them. However, there could be one more Lakers icon who, if nothing else, might surpass all of these veterans in terms of earning money. The name is LeBron James.
LeBron James, who in case plays two more seasons beyond the upcoming one, will likely eclipse Bryant’s Lakers contract statistics at this rate. After his fifth season with the Lakers, James’ total earnings had reached almost $197 million. LBJ has already paid for 60% of Bryant’s earnings if we compare his 20 seasons’ earnings of $323,312,307 to James’ five seasons’ earnings of $197,966,106 with the Lakers.
BREAKING: Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James has agreed on a two-year, $97.1 million contract extension – including a player option for the 2024-2025 season, @KlutchSports CEO Rich Paul tells ESPN. James had been entering final year of deal worth $44.5M.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) August 17, 2022
In contrast, Bryant’s three-year, $83,547,447 contract that he inked following 2010 was his largest annual contract. This transaction was still below the annual $30 million threshold. He was still the highest-paid athlete based on these figures, though. The athlete made around $323 million overall if we include his seven-year, $136 million contract.
According to Spotrac, James made more than $431 million while he was a member of the Los Angeles Lakers, Miami Heat, and Cleveland Cavaliers over two decades. According to Deadline, he extended his deal with the Lakers for two more years and $97 million in August of last year. That took his earnings to more than $500 million and made him the highest-paid NBA player.
How did LeBron James become the NBA’s first active billionaire?
LeBron James has made hundreds of millions of dollars from his time with the Cleveland Cavaliers, Miami Heat, and Los Angeles Lakers. He has also made another $900 million from endorsements and other business ventures. That includes a lifetime sponsorship with Nike, owning Blaze Pizza locations, and running a video production company. This brings his total pre-tax earnings to over $1.2 billion.
His holdings include shares of Beachbody, which in 2020 purchased the sports nutrition firm that James co-founded with Arnold Schwarzenegger. He also has stakes in Beats by Dre, which was acquired by Apple in 2014. Beats by Dre was sold to Apple for $3 billion in 2014. A $10 million house is located in the 37-year-old’s hometown of Akron, Ohio.
Two residences in Los Angeles with a combined value of $60 million are part of his real estate portfolio, which is believed to be worth $80 million. However, King James didn’t hoard his wealth. To improve the lives of kids in his hometown of Akron, James established the LeBron James Family Foundation in 2004. To support Akron’s at-risk kids and their families, the foundation partnered with Akron Public Schools to create the I PROMISE School in 2018.
