With a career that has spanned almost 20 years, LeBron James isn’t exactly short on riches, and he’s not yet done maximizing his earnings in the NBA. In fact, he’s close to setting a new all-time high in that category.
While LeBron didn’t receive a max contract until later in his career, his amazing longevity has set him up to become basketball’s highest-earning player yet with a potential career total of $532 million (not counting endorsement deals or business ventures).
(via ESPN):
The top free agent in the 2023 class could be off the market on Aug. 4.
That’s the day James becomes eligible to sign a two-year, $97.1 million extension with the Los Angeles Lakers. The two-year term is the maximum allowed under the CBA because of the over-38 rule.
By agreeing to a new contract, James would bump his career earnings to $532 million, the most ever for an NBA player (a record that is sure to fall in the coming years as player salaries continue to grow).
Even if James signs an extension, the Lakers project to have nearly $23 million in cap space next summer (and if he doesn’t sign an extension, that number is about the same because of his cap hold, which would be on the Lakers’ books until he re-signs or signs elsewhere). That number could increase if Talen Horton-Tucker declines his $11 million player option or he is traded before then.
Nobody knows how much longer LeBron will stay on the Lakers or even how much longer he’ll stay active in the NBA. But even now, at 37 years old, he continues to be a highly valuable star and leader.
During the 2021-22 campaign, he averaged 30.3 points, 8.2 rebounds, and 6.2 assists per game on 52.4% shooting.
If anybody has earned the benefit of the doubt, it’s King James. All of these years, he has always shown to be a consistent and dependable producer for his teams. It seems like a given that he’ll be sticking around for at least a little while longer.
