Four NBA Stars Among Top 20 Highest-Paid Athletes In The World

Stephen Curry leads the way among NBA players.

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San Francisco, CA, USA; Golden State Warriors guard Stephen Curry (30) smiles during Media Day at the Chase Center. Mandatory Credit: Cary Edmondson-Imagn Images

NBA superstars are handsomely compensated for their services, so it should come as little surprise that a few do feature in the list of the highest-paid athletes in the world. Boardroom shared a list of the top 20 via Forbes, and Stephen Curry, LeBron James, Kevin Durant, and Giannis Antetokounmpo were on it.

1. Cristiano Ronaldo – $275 million

2. Stephen Curry – $156 million

3. Tyson Fury – $146 million

4. Dak Prescott – $137 million

5. Lionel Messi – $135 million

6. LeBron James – $133.8 million

7. Juan Soto – $114 million

8. Karim Benzema – $104 million

9. Shohei Ohtani – $102.5 million

10. Kevin Durant – $101.4 million

11. Oleksandr Usyk – $101 million

12. John Rahm – $100 million

13. Giannis Antetokounmpo $94.4 million

14. Scottie Scheffler – $92.5 million

15. Deshaun Watson – $91.8 million

16. Kylian Mbappe – $90 million

17. Rory McIlroy – $87.9 million

18. Patrick Mahomes – $86.8 million

19. Jordan Love – $83 million

20. Jared Goff – $80.8 million

 

Al-Nassr forward and soccer icon Cristiano Ronaldo is well clear at the top with $275 million in earnings. There is no one even within $100 million of Ronaldo, which is incredible.

Curry is the best of the rest at second, having earned $156 million. Forbes’ financial leaderboard for 2025 states $100 million of that for the Golden State Warriors superstar is off-field earnings, and that is tied for the most with Shohei Ohtani.

Seventh-placed James actually comes in after these two for off-field, as he earned $85 million of that $133.8 million outside the NBA. The 40-year-old recently claimed he is broke, but it’s safe to say he isn’t going to be short on money at any point for the rest of his life.

Durant just about joined Curry and James in the top 10 as he edged out boxer Oleksandr Usyk for the 10th spot. He made $101.4 million, and the amount was nearly evenly distributed. Durant earned $51.4 million from the NBA and $50 million off it.

While Curry, James, and Durant being the top three NBA players isn’t surprising, Antetokounmpo being fourth is. He came in at 13th on the list with $94.4 million. Antetokounmpo made $45 million off the field, and you wouldn’t expect the number to be that high. Let’s put it into context by comparing what he made with some other well-established international stars.

According to Forbes, Luka Doncic was at $15 million, Joel Embiid at $10 million, and Nikola Jokic at $6 million. Antetokounmpo is far ahead of them, and you do wonder the reason behind it. He isn’t even playing in a big market, having spent his entire career with the Milwaukee Bucks.

Unlike Antetokounmpo, Doncic is now playing for a big-market team after the Dallas Mavericks traded him to the Los Angeles Lakers in February 2025. It will be interesting to see the gap between them in a couple of years. You’d imagine Doncic would close it significantly and perhaps even edge ahead of Antetokounmpo.

A lot of these big names would also have aspirations of someday joining James in that billionaire club. The Lakers superstar is one of four professional athletes Forbes has recognized as a billionaire, along with Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson, and Tiger Woods.

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Gautam Varier is a staff writer and columnist for Fadeaway World from Mumbai, India. He graduated from Symbiosis International University with a Master of Business specializing in Sports Management in 2020. This educational achievement enables Gautam to apply sophisticated analytical techniques to his incisive coverage of basketball, blending business acumen with sports knowledge.Before joining Fadeaway World in 2022, Gautam honed his journalistic skills at Sportskeeda and SportsKPI, where he covered a range of sports topics with an emphasis on basketball. His passion for the sport was ignited after witnessing the high-octane offense of the Steve Nash-led Phoenix Suns. Among the Suns, Shawn Marion stood out to Gautam as an all-time underrated NBA player. Marion’s versatility as a defender and his rebounding prowess, despite being just 6’7”, impressed Gautam immensely. He admired Marion’s finishing ability at the rim and his shooting, despite an unconventional jump shot, believing that Marion’s skill set would have been even more appreciated in today’s NBA.This transformative experience not only deepened his love for basketball but also shaped his approach to sports writing, enabling him to connect with readers through vivid storytelling and insightful analysis.
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