The ongoing debate on who had the better playing career between LeBron James and Micheal Jordan may never end, but one thing that isn’t debatable is who had the better financial playing career.
According to the Sportico, LeBron has earned $330 million in playing salary since getting drafted in 2003. That plus he made a massive $700 million through endorsements, merchandise, licensing, and media. His endorsements with AT&T, Beats, Blaze Pizza, GMC, PepsiCo, Rimowa, and Walmart bring in over $100 million annually alone. And we can’t leave out his partnership with Nike, with which he signed a lifetime deal back in 2016 that brings in $30 million annually on its own.
Not only is LeBron the first player in NBA history to pass that financial milestone while active, but he’s also only the sixth athlete globally to reach that mark. LeBron is on an exclusive list that includes Tiger Woods, Floyd Mayweather, Cristiano Ronaldo, Lionel Messi, and Roger Federer.
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Kevin Durant is the next NBA player trailing LBJ with $580 million in career earnings, and behind him is Stephen Curry at $430 million.
Another debate between LBJ and MJ is who had the better Space Jam movie. LeBron lovers will back the new version, while Jordan lovers will make the case for the 1996 version, but another thing you can’t debate is who broke the bank.
Since its release, ‘Space Jam: A New Legacy’ racked up $31 million at the box office, which is about 3.4 million tickets sold, while the original ‘Space Jam’ debuted with a gross of $27.5 million, which would have equated to about 6.2 million tickets sold.
Does it surprise you that LeBron James is the first player with $1Billion in career earnings?