LeBron James Has Earned The Most Money From Contracts

Published on February 7th, 2023 7:34 pm EST
Written By: Dave Manuel


Which NBA player has earned the most money from their contracts over the course of their career?

The answer is LeBron James, and it's not particularly close.

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Since the start of his career in 2003 (this article is current as of 2023), LeBron James has earned north of $430 million from his contracts with the Cavaliers, Heat and Lakers.

This is more than $70 million more than the next closest player on the list, Chris Paul, who has earned a little less than $360 million.

The top 5 (according to Spotrac) looks like this:

1. LeBron James, $431,859,107
2. Chris Paul, $359,109,419
3. Kevin Durant, $349,142,591
4. Russell Westbrook, $335,645,148
5. Kevin Garnett, $334,304,240

6-10 includes some of the greatest players in the history of the game, including Kobe Bryant ($323,312,307), Steph Curry ($302,806,362) and Shaquille O'Neal ($286,344,668).

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Some of the other names on the list that might surprise you include Al Horford ($265,636,768), Kevin Love ($264,204,264) and Mike Conley ($249,767,986) to name a few.

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As the salary cap increases over time, the names at the top of this list will continue to get replaced.

For instance, top young players in the NBA now will almost certainly out-earn LeBron James over their careers, as the top salaries in the league will continue to escalate as the salary cap increases, due to increased revenues from TV deals, etc.