![]() James lent his likeness to Epic Games’ Fortnite video game in July and joined home gym company Tonal as an investor and brand ambassador just this week. The 36-year-old signed a two-year, $85 million extension with the Los Angeles Lakers in December, and his collection of off-the-court ventures is unmatched in the NBA, with his Nike deal alone paying him $32 million annually. LeBron James looks well on his way to becoming the second billionaire to emerge from pro basketball, after Michael Jordan, who joined the three-comma club in retirement. Here are the NBA’s ten highest-paid players for 2021-22. The docked pay keeps him off the top-ten ranking entirely. Kyrie Irving, the Brooklyn Nets’ point guard, has refused to get vaccinated against Covid-19, and that has sidelined the Australian-born superstar. Still, the effects of the pandemic linger. James, for instance, is credited with receiving $41.2 million on the court, up from the $31.4 million Forbes assigned him for 2020-21. ![]() Because the exact figures won’t be known until after the season ends in June, Forbes has elected to credit players for their full salaries this year. The league is projecting revenue will return to pre-pandemic levels this season, and the hope is that there will be minimal adjustments to player salaries. ![]() Last season, with the pandemic severely hampering attendance, the NBA made emergency financial adjustments that effectively cut player pay by up to 20%. More important for this season specifically is the return of fans to arenas. That has given teams more cash to hand out and driven up the level of max contracts, especially after the introduction in 2017 of so-called super-max extensions, which allow teams to spend even more on their stars. The NBA’s salary cap is up to $112.4 million and the luxury-tax threshold to $136.6 million this season, nearly double the levels of a decade ago. But the surge in this year’s top-ten total also owes a great deal to two factors on the court, where the highest-paid players are raking in $408 million, up from a high of $351 million in 2019-20.įirst, teams can simply pay their best players more. The NBA’s highest-paid players are set to collect more than $305 million combined off the court, easily beating last year’s record total of $260 million.
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