Lebron James Has Made $234 Million Over His Career—And Is Closing in on A Lot More
NBA star Lebron James is leaving Cleveland for the Los Angeles Lakers on a four-year, $154 million contract. But he’s been raking in the cash for years—an estimated $234 million in his 15 seasons in the NBA, according to Spotrac.
Now, with his latest deal, James stands to make significantly more. By the end of the 2021-2022 season, he’ll have earned $387.2 million over his career, said Spotrac, which tracks athlete salaries.
And note that those numbers are just his NBA contracts and don’t include his endorsements, which generate millions more for the NBA’s most popular athlete.
Of course, James has paid a small amount of money back in fines for minor infractions like technical fouls. Since 2014, he’s forked over $62,000 in penalties, but he can easily afforded it.
Spotrac says that James has never earned a signing bonus or had an incentive bonus in his contracts. If so, that would be in contrast to most other athletes, who are paid extra for winning championships or achieving other performance milestones.
Interested in knowing just how much James has made each year of his career? He’s a year-by-year breakdown from Spotrac:
2003-2004 Season
$4,018,290
2004-2005 Season
$4,320,360
2005-2006 Season
$4,621,800
2006-2007 Season
$5,828,090
2007-2008 Season
$13,041,250
2008-2009 Season
$14,410,580
2009-2010 Season
$15,779,912
2010-2011 Season
$14,500,000
2011-2012 Season
$12,896,159
2012-2013 Season
$17,545,000
2013-2014 Season
$19,067,500
2014-2015 Season
$20,644,400
2015-2016 Season
$22,970,500
2016-2017 Season
$30,963,450
2017-2018 Season
$33,285,709
