Athlete Salaries Have Gone Completely Insane and I Have Thoughts
The money in professional sports has reached stratospheric levels. Photo: Pixabay
Ard, let’s talk about money for a minute because the numbers in professional sports have gotten so big that my brain literally cannot process them anymore. LeBron James is making $132.6 million this year. That’s not a typo. That’s not his career earnings. That’s THIS SEASON. According to Sportico’s breakdown, $52.6 million is salary and $80 million is endorsements. The man makes more off the court than on it.
LeBron, Steph Curry, and Kevin Durant have now each hit $1 billion in career earnings while still actively playing. The only NBA players to do that. They join a club of seven non-NBA athletes who hit that mark during their careers: Tiger Woods, Ronaldo, Messi, Federer, Mayweather, Mickelson, and Neymar. That’s the tier we’re talking about.
The NBA has the highest average salary of any major U.S. sport at $14.1 million for the 2025-26 season. Even the MINIMUM salary for a rookie is $1.2 million. That’s more than NFL rookies ($795K), NHL rookies ($775K), and MLB rookies ($740K). The NBA is just built different financially.
Marcus’s Take:
Jayson Tatum is the highest-paid NBA player by salary alone at $62.8 million annually. According to Front Office Sports, his five-year deal is worth $314 million with performance incentives. He led the Celtics to a championship and got paid. That’s how it should work. But $62.8 million per year is more than most franchises were worth 20 years ago.
In the NFL, Dak Prescott just became the highest-paid player in league history at $60 million annually. His four-year deal with the Cowboys includes $126 million guaranteed. For comparison, when Tom Brady started his career, the highest-paid QBs were making around $10 million a year. We’ve had a 6x increase in two decades.
And then there’s Shohei Ohtani. The Dodgers gave him $700 million over 10 years. SEVEN HUNDRED MILLION DOLLARS. That’s the largest contract in North American sports history. The man can pitch and hit at elite levels—he’s literally doing two jobs—but $70 million a year is still hard to wrap your head around. He was worth every penny this postseason though.
Real Talk:
Here’s what’s interesting though—the salary difference between NBA and WNBA players is vast. Steph Curry makes $55 million. The highest WNBA salary is around $250,000. That’s a 220x difference. Same sport, different leagues. The revenue gap explains most of it, but it’s still striking when you see the numbers side by side.
The upcoming media rights deals will push salaries even higher. The NBA just signed an 11-year, $76 billion TV contract that kicks in this season. When the revenue pie grows, players get 51% of it. We’re going to see the first $80 million per year player soon. Maybe Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. Maybe Luka. But it’s coming.
The Upside:
Sixty NBA players are making at least $30 million this year. Compare that to 35 in the NFL and 13 in MLB. The NBA has figured out how to maximize player compensation better than any other league. Love it or hate it, the business model works.
I played college ball. I never sniffed the pros. But I know guys who did, and I know how short those careers can be. One bad injury and it’s over. So when I see athletes maximizing their earning window, I respect it. Even when the numbers make no sense to my regular-person brain.
Ard, that’s my take on money in sports. Now I need to go check my bank account and feel inadequate for the rest of the day.
