Lebron James’ salary and net worth, here’s how much the NBA star earns, who renewed his pharaonic contract with the Los Angeles Lakers this summer.
How much does Lebron James earn? Despite having passed the age of forty, he is still the biggest star in the NBA, even if recently he has made headlines more for his physical problems than for his performances on the court.
Lebron James however this season has reached a historic milestone by becoming the first NBA player to surpass 50,000 points combined between the regular season and the playoffs, but the champion from Akron has long since earned a place in the Olympus of basketball.
It is no coincidence that he is considered one of the greatest basketball players of all time for an extraordinary combination of physical talent, game intelligence and longevity, winning 4 NBA titles in his career - with three different teams Cavaliers, Heat and Lakers - as well as two gold medals at the Olympics.
In the summer, to the delight of Los Angeles Lakers fans, James’ contract with the Californian franchise was renewed until 2026, earning a whopping 104 million dollars in two years and fulfilling his dream of playing alongside his son Bronny James.
James, however, has also been good at building an authentic economic empire over the years between earnings on the field, investments and sponsors, so much so that Forbes considers him the first active NBA player to become a billionaire.
Let’s see in detail how much Lebron James’ net worth is, taking a look at his salaries earned in his career and the earnings from sponsors.
Lebron James’ current salary with the Lakers
After a career spent between Cleveland and Miami, Lebron James decided to move to the Los Angeles Lakers in the summer of 2018 for a transfer that caused quite a stir in the NBA world.
With his contract expiring, the white smoke finally arrived: Lebron James renewed with the Lakers until 2026, earning a total of 104 million dollars in these two years for a salary of 52 million per season.
In Los Angeles he will also fulfill his dream of playing alongside his son Bronny James: for the youngster there is a four-year contract worth 2 million dollars per season. We are not at his father’s figures but it is certainly a very high salary for his age.
Lebron James’s Past NBA Salaries
With his new deal with the Los Angeles Lakers, Lebron James could become the highest paid athlete ever not only in the NBA, but in the entire history of world sports.
Here’s the evolution of salaries earned by James during his long career.
- 2003-2004. Cleveland Cavaliers 4 018 920
- 2004-2005 Cleveland Cavaliers 4 320 360
- 2005-2006 Cleveland Cavaliers 4 621 800
- 2006-2007 Cleveland Cavaliers 5 828 090
- 2007-2008 Cleveland Cavaliers 13 041 250
- 2008-2009 Cleveland Cavaliers 14 410 581
- 2009-2010 Cleveland Cavaliers 15 779 912
- 2010-2011 Miami Heat 14,500,000
- 2011-2012 Miami Heat 16 022 500
- 2012-2013 Miami Heat 17 545 000
- 2013-2014 Miami Heat 19 067 500
- 2014-2015 Cleveland Cavaliers 20 644 400
- 2015-2016 Cleveland Cavaliers 22 971 000
- 2016-2017 Cleveland Cavaliers 30 963 450
- 2017-2018 Cleveland Cavaliers 33 285 709
- 2018-2019 Los Angeles Lakers 35 654 150
- 2019-2020 Los Angeles Lakers 37 436 858
- 2020-2021 Los Angeles Lakers 39 219 566
- 2021-2022 Los Angeles Lakers 41 180 544
- 2022-2023 Los Angeles Lakers 44 474 988
- 2023-2024 Los Angeles Lakers 44 474 988
- 2023-2024 Los Angeles Lakers 52 000 000
Source Wikipedia
Only thanks to his salaries, Lebron James has earned something like 459 million dollars so far, to which we must add the 104 million that he will collect in the next two years for a total of over 560 million.
Lebron James’ Net Worth
According to the specialized magazine Forbes, at the moment Lebron James could count on a personal net worth of 1.3 billion dollars. A treasure that has made him enter the club of the 3 thousand richest people in the world.
In 2024 again according to the American magazine he was the fourth highest paid athlete in the world, with a total income of 128 million dollars. Only Cristiano Ronaldo, Jon Rahm and Lionel Messi did better than him.
For Forbes the secret of his billionaire status is to be found in having acquired shares in the brands with which he collaborates, including Beats by Dre, thus not limiting himself to being a simple testimonial.
In the last year, James would have increased his net worth by 100 million dollars, with the gap increasing to 300 million if we consider the bank account of 2023.
Lebron James’s Sponsors and Investments
Off the field, Lebron James would have earned 80 million dollars thanks to sponsors and investments in the last year alone: no athlete in 2024 has earned so much if we exclude salaries and prizes.
Moreover, the list of James’s sponsors is very long.
- Nike: signed a lifetime contract in 2015, estimated at over 1 billion dollars.
- Pepsi: multimillion-dollar agreement to promote brands such as Mountain Dew and Gatorade.
- AT&T: partnership for advertising campaigns and digital initiatives.
- Beats by Dre: Involvement as an ambassador and investor.
- Crypto.com: Collaboration to promote the platform and NFT initiatives.
- GMC: Testimonial for electric vehicles such as the GMC Hummer EV.
- Intel: Participation in technology advertising campaigns.
- Kia: Ambassador for the car brand.
- State Farm: Collaboration to promote insurance services.
- Audemars Piguet: Partnership with the luxury watch brand.
It should also be considered that James holds 10% of the shares of Blaze Pizza, a fast food chain that has achieved the record for the fastest growing company in history, going from 2 to 300 restaurants in just over thirteen years. This is a project that the basketball player believes in so much, so much so that in 2015 he said goodbye to a contract with McDonald’s worth 15 million in 4 years.
Original article published on Money.it Italy. Original title: Quanto guadagna Lebron James? Stipendio e patrimonio della stella NBA
