LeBron James is one of the best basketball players to ever play in the world and many believe that he has officially passed Michael Jordan for the title of “Great of All-Time” this season. At 34 years old, James is playing the best basketball of his career. That isn’t something normal and he seems to be defying age.
As James’ career continues to impress, he has been steadily rising on Forbes’ list of highest-paid athletes. According to Forbes ‘ list, James is now the sixth highest-paid athlete in the world. Here is the opening paragraph from Forbes’ section about James.
“LeBron James is an American professional basketball player who has a net worth of $400 million. Every year, LeBron James earns around $25 million in salary from the Cleveland Cavaliers and roughly $55 million from endorsements. That brings his total annual income to roughly $80 million. Between June 2016 and 2017, LeBron earned $86 million. During his first 10 seasons in the NBA, LeBron James earned just over $126 million in salary alone. During that same time period LeBron has earned an estimated $326 million from endorsements. When you total it all up, as of this writing, LeBron has earned slightly over $500 million during his career (before taxes and expenses).”
Currently, James is playing in his 15th NBA season and has been a superstar from the time that he was 18. As he has matured and progressed as a player, James has improved in the areas that made many still think Jordan was the better all-around basketball player. The main area of improvement is his perimeter shooting, which has gone from a weakness to a strength.
. @TheNotoriousMMA outearns @KingJames , lands at No. 4 on @Forbes list of World’s Highest-Paid Athletes for 2018 https://t.co/fjHvnp8iRm pic.twitter.com/Fl9dPYvojv
— MMA Mania (@mmamania) June 6, 2018
Throughout his 15-year career, James has averaged 27.2 points per game to go along with 7.4 rebounds and 7.2 assists. Those numbers are impressive, to say the least.
James has seen more criticism than most professional athletes throughout the year. For as many fans that love him and call him their favorite player, there are double the fans that continually discredit the things that he has done. The word “polarizing” definitely describes James.
In an even more intriguing situation, James is heading into free agency this coming offseason. Rumors have been flying around about where he might end up signing with some potential destinations being the Los Angeles Lakers, Cleveland Cavaliers, Philadelphia 76ers, and Houston Rockets.
No matter where James ends up signing, he has put together a historic career. Some may never view him as a better player than Jordan, but from a statistical standpoint, he definitely deserves that title.
Ahead of James on the Forbes list were Neymar, Conor McGregor, Christiano Ronaldo, Lionel Messi, and Floyd Mayweather.