Source: Axelle/Bauer-Griffin / Getty
Not even Skip Bayless can hate on this accomplishment, or could he?
LeBron James has a lot to be happy about, his movie Space Jam: A New Legacy did well at the box office, due to the Lakers getting bounced out of the NBA Playoffs early, he’s had some extra time to ice up, and now he’s reportedly a billionaire.
According to Sportico, the Los Angeles Lakers superstar, business mogul, and budding actor has become the first active player to earn $1 billion. Sportico‘s sports valuation reporter Kurt Badenhausen attributes that to Bron’s career earnings, including salaries and endorsements. According to Badenhausen, James is the “first athlete in a U.S. team sport to hit $1 billion USD, with $330 million USD in playing salary and $700 million USD off the court.”
Badenhausen specifically pointed to LBJ’s earnings he made off the court thanks to his current endorsement deals with “AT&T, Beats, Blaze Pizza, GMC, Nike, PepsiCo, Rimowa and Walmart,” plus his latest move that saw him come to the world of the highly-addictive game Fortnite thanks to his recent deal with Epic Games that saw his own limited skin be introduced into the game’s store.
Badenhausen was also quick to point out the “big difference” between total net worth and earnings for those who would quickly either bring up Michael Jordan or google King James’ net worth. In a tweet that will make Jordan fans happy, Badenhausen explained how His Airness is considered a billionaire while James is not.
“Nike helped MJ get there, but equally important is NBA team values skyrocketing since he took control of Hornets in 2010,” Badenhausen tweeted while revealing Jordan’s career earnings now total about $2 billion. Badenhausen also added that James won’t be alone in that department for too long. Due to increasing NBA salaries, we should expect to see fellow NBA hoopers Kevin Durant and Steph Curry earn over a billion soon.
Can we hold something, Bron Bron?
Congrats on the accomplishment.
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Photo: Axelle/Bauer-Griffin / Getty
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