For his services in the 2020-21 NBA season, Los Angeles Lakers superstar LeBron James will be paid $39.2 million, making him the sixth-highest-paid player in the league.
Although one could easily argue that James, even on his monster contract, is still underpaid, this season will nonetheless make James the highest-paid player in NBA history at $349.3 million earned in his career.
James is passing both Kevin Garnett and Kobe Bryant, who made $343.9 million and $328.2 million, respectively, on NBA salaries alone.
Through the 2020-21 season, this would be the NBA’s Top 10 highest-paid players ever:
King James would still trail Bryant and Garnett if you adjust for inflation. If we take a look at player career earnings accounting for the current contracts active players are signed to, which would include James and the two-year, $85 million extension he just signed with the Lakers, the list will look far different a few years from now.
Below, you can check out the NBA’s Top 15 players in projected career earnings by the time James’ extension ends in 2022-23.
1
LeBron James
Projected career earnings: $434,986,078
2
Kevin Durant
Projected career earnings: $358,099,592
3
Chris Paul
Projected career earnings: $344,388,531
4
Kevin Garnett
Career earnings: $343,862,398
5
Russell Westbrook
Projected career earnings: $338,819,811
6
Kobe Bryant
Career earnings: $328,237,108
7
James Harden
Projected career earnings: $319,406,593
8
Shaquille O'Neal
Career earnings: $292,198,327
9
Damian Lillard
Projected career earnings: $291,268,658 (pending 2021-22 salary cap)
10
John Wall
Projected career earnings: $276,601,866
11
Gordon Hayward
Projected career earnings: $270,922,778
12
Blake Griffin
Projected career earnings: $267,894,679
13
Kevin Love
Projected career earnings: $266,912,642
14
Stephen Curry
Projected career earnings: $257,859,052
15
Al Horford
Projected career earnings: $257,728,232