Let us know more about the salary growth of NBA superstar LeBron James
LeBron James is one of the highest-paid athletes of all time not just in the United States but globally. His earnings aren’t limited to just the team contract. They also source from the many endorsement deals he’s signed with, and even from his other ventures such as movies, biographies, TV shows, and so on. But naturally, this wasn’t always the case and James too had been a rookie with an average NBA salary. So let’s see his journey from the start.
Cleveland Cavaliers (2003–2010)
It isn’t very surprising that LeBron James rose quite the stir even as a rookie, for he became the first Cavalier to ever win the Best Rookie of the Year award. He signed a four-year contract after becoming the first round, first overall draft pick by the Cleveland Cavaliers. This contract had been for $18,788,450. His first annual salary for the 2003-04 season had been $4,018,920 which was still quite high for a rookie player, but not surprising for a player of his stature. His annual salary for the 2004-05 season increased to $4,320,360, and $4,621,800 for the 2005-06 season. For his final year of the contract, LeBron James’ salary had been incremented to $5,828,090.
LeBron resigned with the Cleveland Cavaliers for another four years, a contract of around $60 million which was quite the raise from his prior. For the 2007-08 season James was paid $13, 04,250. In 08-09, he received $14,410,581, and for his final season with the Cavaliers, in 2009-10, James was paid $15,779,912.
Miami Heat (2010–2014)
LeBron James’s ‘Decision’ to join the Miami Heat in 2010 was highly criticized by fans to sports analysts, but the player no doubt displayed quite the sportsmanship earning some of his career’s highest record with the Heat. In spite of being approached by many teams from the Lakers to the Cavaliers, James signed with the Heat a 6-year contract for $109,837,500. For the first year, he was paid $14,500,000 which was raised t0 $16,022,500 in the 2011-12 season. In 2012-13 James was paid $17,545,000 after which he opted out of the contract, declaring he had always intended to return to the Cavaliers.
(Photo by Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images)
Cleveland Cavaliers (2014–2018)
James signed a two-year contract with the Cavaliers as he rejoined. The contract had been worth around $42 million and the first year he received $20,644,400. The second year of the contract followed an injury and a two-week break which also marks his maximum number of games missed at a stretch in his overall career. This followed a new contract with the Cavaliers for another 2 years, worth $46,974,673. During 2015-16 he was paid $22,970,500 leading to a high of $30,963,450 in 2016-17 which again fell under a new three-year contract. This was also when the champion player became the highest-paid player in all of the NBA. In 2017-18, LeBron James’ salary was $33,285,709, after which he opted out of his contract with the Cavaliers.
Los Angeles Lakers (2018–present)
This time as James departed from the Cavaliers, the crowd was much kinder and positive about his joining the Los Angeles Lakers. James signed a 4-year stable contract with the Lakers for $153,32,846, starting his very first year with a salary of $35,654,150, which rose to $37,436,858 in the 2019-20 season. James currently is under a re-signed contract with the Lakers which is a 2-year contract for $85,655,532 with an annual promised income of $42,827,766.
LeBron James during the 2016-17 season had been the highest-paid player in the NBA. However, if we consider the total career earnings, LeBron with now almost 18 years on the field is the highest earner ever to play in the NBA court. Of course, he has also a major source of income from endorsement deals, real estate, and so on.
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