LeBron James Tops World’s Highest-Paid Athletes List By Making $127 Million Over The Past Year

May 12, 2022 by Ariel Whitely in Sports with 0 Comments

LeBron James

LeBron James Tops World’s Highest-Paid Athletes List By Making $127 Million Over The Past Year

Looks like LeBron James can add “one of the wealthiest athletes of all time” to his list of achievements!

LeBron James, nicknamed “King James” for being commonly known as one of the greatest basketball players of all time, has ranked at the top of Sportico’s list of highest-paid athletes. Sportico recently released its annual list of the top-100 highest-paid athletes in the world, revealing that Lakers player LeBron James is leading the list with a reported $127 million in salary and endorsements.

LeBron James

Sportico’s list includes athletes from 10 different sports and 24 countries. The athletes earned $4.46 billion in total income, including salary, winnings, and endorsement deals over the last 12 months.

Per reports, other notable athletes raked in an impeccable amount of money over the past year alongside James, with NBA players leading the top-100 list. Golden State Warriors player Stephen Curry came in 6th place with $86.2 million and Brooklyn Nets player Kevin Durant was next with $85.9 million.

Stephen Curry, Kevin Durant

Representing for the women, Japanese/Haitian tennis star Naomi Osaka is the highest-paid woman athlete for the second year in a row. She came in 20th overall with $53.2 million in earnings, most of which came from sponsorships, as she missed many matches due to struggling with mental health.

Serena Williams came in 52 overall as the only other woman athlete to make the top-100. The legendary tennis player earned $270,000 in tournament winnings, with a whopping $35 million in sponsorships.

Aside from earning $37 million in salary from the Lakers, it’s James’ business endeavors outside of basketball that have propelled him to the top of the Sportico list. James brought in a total of $90 million from endorsements alone. The NBA star’s contract with Nike is considered to be one of the highest-profile deals in sports. Other endorsement partners include Walmart, GMC, AT&T, and PepsiCo.