There is no active NBA player older than LeBron James, who will celebrate his 40th birthday in December. In fact, the Lakers’ superstar forward is older than three NBA head coaches—the Oklahoma City Thunder’s Mark Daigneault, the Utah Jazz’s Will Hardy and the Boston Celtics’ Joe Mazzulla—and was born the same year as three others, including his new boss in Los Angeles, JJ Redick.
Time may be winding down on James’ incomparable career, but like clockwork, he keeps outplaying younger rivals on the court—and outearning them off it.
For the 11th straight year, James is the NBA’s highest-paid player, collecting $48.7 million in salary for the 2024-25 season and an estimated $80 million annually from endorsements, licensing, memorabilia and other business endeavors. His $128.7 million total (before taxes and agent fees) is the highest in the 15-year history of Forbes’ NBA ranking, topping his $124.5 million haul from 2022-23.
When James’ run as basketball’s earnings king began, with his $64.6 million year in 2014-15, the NBA’s 10 top earners were raking in a combined $368 million, according to Forbes estimates. This year’s group more than doubles that total, at $787 million, which also beats 2022’s record of $751 million.
The new figure includes an estimated $293 million off the court, led by the Golden State Warriors’ Stephen Curry ($50 million), the Phoenix Suns’ Kevin Durant ($50 million) and the Milwaukee Bucks’ Giannis Antetokounmpo ($45 million) along with James. Only five active athletes from across the sports world—soccer’s Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo, golf’s Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy, and baseball’s Shohei Ohtani—make at least $45 million annually off the field, according to Forbes estimates.
The real story behind NBA players’ skyrocketing paychecks, however, is on the court. The league’s collective bargaining agreement ensures that players collectively take home around 50% of basketball-related income, and the NBA’s soaring revenue—roughly $13 billion last season—continues to give general managers more money to spend. In James’ first year as the NBA’s highest-paid player, his salary was $20.6 million; this season, 82 players will exceed that figure, according to contract database Spotrac.
Curry became the first player with a $50 million salary in 2023-24, and with the salary cap up to $140.6 million this season and the luxury tax threshold at $170.8 million—increases of more than 122% from a decade ago—the Philadelphia 76ers’ Joel Embiid, the Denver Nuggets’ Nikola Jokic and the Phoenix Suns’ Bradley Beal now join him in that stratosphere.
Meanwhile, the NBA signed new national media rights deals in July for a reported $76 billion over 11 years, more than two and a half times what the league has been receiving (by annual average). That should push up the salary........