How Rich Are LeBron James, Steph Curry and Other NBA Stars?
NBA superstars are some of the greatest basketball players in the world, able to fill the box score with eye-popping numbers. And their talents will be on display Feb 19 in the 72nd NBA All-Star Game in Salt Lake City.
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The best of the best know how to fill their bank accounts, too -- and not just with their basketball skills. The biggest NBA stars make millions of dollars each year in endorsements, business investments, memorabilia sales and licensing rights to add to the millions they make on the court.
GOBankingRates compiled a list of some of the top-earning NBA superstars of today and yesterday. Read on to see if you can guess their net worths.
Kyrie Irving
Team: Dallas Mavericks
Playing Years: 2011-Present
Current Contract: 4 years/$136,490,600
Career Earnings: $232,471,637
Net Worth: $90,000,000
Kyrie Irving, 30, is a former No. 1 overall draft pick by the Cleveland Cavaliers and an NBA champion.
The eight-time NBA All-Star missed much of the 2021-22 season playing for the Brooklyn Nets because he wasn't vaccinated against COVID-19. He didn't become a full-time player until March, when New York City lifted its rule that stipulated athletes and other performers couldn't work in the city unless they were vaccinated.
Did you know the former Duke star was born in Melbourne, Australia? Check out his total net worth, then try converting it to Australian dollars.
Damian Lillard
Team: Portland Trail Blazers
Playing Years: 2012-Present
Current Contract: 4 years/$176,265,152
Career Earnings: $233,708,358
Net Worth: $100,000,000
Toiling in the northwestern corner of the United States in Portland, Oregon, Damian Lillard isn't the biggest name on the list. But Lillard, 32, is a bona fide NBA superstar with a net worth to match.
Lillard is a seven-time NBA All-Star and has a career scoring average of 25 points per game. With a nickname of "Dame Time," Lillard is best-known for hitting game-winning shots to close out NBA playoff series against the Houston Rockets in 2013 and the Oklahoma City Thunder in 2019.Lillard was limited to 29 games in the 2021-22 season because of an abdominal injury and subsequent surgery but rebounded to become an All-Star again in 2022-23. Here's his total net worth.
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Anthony Davis
Team: Los Angeles Lakers
Playing Years: 2012-Present
Current Contract: 5 years/$189,903,600
Career Earnings: $226,008,314
Net Worth: $130,000,000
LeBron James' superstar teammate with the Los Angeles Lakers, Anthony Davis is no slouch in terms of basketball prowess or net worth.
The No. 1 overall pick in the 2012 NBA Draft, the 29-year-old power forward is an eight-time All-Star.
Davis played one college basketball season with Kentucky (when he won the NCAA championship in 2012), and also won the NBA title with the Lakers in 2020.
See how much the Lakers star is worth now.
Stephen Curry
Team: Golden State Warriors
Playing Years: 2009-Present
Current Contract: 4 years/$215,353,664
Career Earnings: $302,806,362
Net Worth: $160,000,000
Stephen Curry, a 6-foot-2 point guard, is worth more than his weight in gold after signing a four-year, $215 million-plus contract extension that took effect with the 2022-23 season. He'll earn an average of nearly $54 million per year during the deal.
The scoring machine, who has led the Warriors to four NBA championships and six NBA Finals, has topped the NBA in scoring twice in his dazzling 14-year career. He's considered one of the greatest shooters in NBA history.
Some of Curry's popularity stems from his size because he's not a 7-foot behemoth and therefore is more relatable to the average NBA fan. He has a huge endorsement contract with Under Armour that factors into his net worth, which you can find out here.
James Harden
Team: Philadelphia 76ers
Playing Years: 2009-Present
Current Contract: 2 years/$68,640,000
Career Earnings: $301,660,574
Net Worth: $165,000,000
Known as "The Beard" for his famous facial hair, James Harden has an equally impressive NBA game.
Harden, 33, is one of the prolific scorers in the league. The 2018 MVP and three-time NBA scoring champion averaged a brilliant 36.1 points per game in the 2018-19 season.
Harden was traded from the Brooklyn Nets to the Philadelphia 76ers in February 2022 and signed a two-year contract with the Sixers. But here's how much he's worth overall.
Kevin Durant
Team: Phoenix Suns
Playing Years: 2007-Present
Current Contract: 4 years/$194,219,320
Career Earnings: $349,142,591
Net Worth: $200,000,000
Kevin Durant, 34, won two NBA championships with the Golden State Warriors. He sustained a torn Achilles' tendon as the Warriors were battling in another NBA Finals in 2019, then jumped to the Brooklyn Nets in free agency that offseason.
The 6-foot-10 forward was picked No. 2 overall in the NBA draft in 2007 by the Seattle SuperSonics, who became the Oklahoma City Thunder in 2008 in Durant's second NBA season.
Durant signed a four-year, $194,219,320 contract extension in August 2021 and will earn a base salary of nearly $43 million in the upcoming season. With millions in endorsement deals, including with Nike, Durant has all sorts of income off the basketball court as well. Do you know how much he's worth?
Shaquille O'Neal
Team: Retired
Playing Years: 1992-2011
Current Contract: N/A
Career Earnings: $286,344,668
Net Worth: $400,000,000
Shaquille O'Neal has almost as many nicknames as he does scoring titles and championships in his amazing NBA career.
The 50-year-old former star was known as the Big Diesel, Big Aristotle or just Shaq in his 19-year NBA career. At 7-foot-1 and 325 pounds, O'Neal was one of the most dominant big men of all time, winning four NBA titles with the Los Angeles Lakers and Miami Heat.
O'Neal's biggest paycheck for a single season was $27,696,430 for the Lakers in 2004-05.
Now a basketball analyst heard on TNT's studio show, O'Neal continues to add to his net worth, which you can find out here.
LeBron James
Team: Los Angeles Lakers
Playing Years: 2003-Present
Current Contract: 2 years/$85,655,532
Career Earnings: $431,859,107
Net Worth: $1,000,000,000
LeBron James entered the NBA straight out of high school, the No. 1 pick of the Cleveland Cavaliers in 2003. The 6-foot-8 power forward, nicknamed King James, was the most-hyped rookie to enter the NBA in years.
In 20 seasons with the Cavaliers, Miami Heat and Los Angeles Lakers, James has won four NBA championships in six NBA Finals appearances. He's on the short list of the greatest NBA players of all time, and he's still going strong at age 38. On Feb. 7, 2023, he broke Kareem Abdul-Jabbar's long-held NBA record for scoring when he registered his 38,388th career point. On June 3, 2022, Forbes moved James to the $1 billion net worth club, making him the first active NBA player to become a billionaire.
Here's where you can find out his total net worth.
Michael Jordan
Team: Retired
Playing Years: 1984-93; 1995-98; 2001-03
Current Contract: N/A
Career Earnings: $93,772,500
Net Worth: $1,700,000,000
He's not an active NBA player anymore, but during the height of his stellar career, Michael Jordan starred in a Gatorade commercial with the jingle "I Want To Be Like Mike."
That's what basketball fans worldwide wanted, because Jordan was hands-down the best NBA player of his generation (and perhaps of all time), and also one of the biggest celebrities of his time.
Jordan compiled six NBA titles with the Chicago Bulls. He was a sought-after pitchman, with a huge deal with Nike that continues today.
The former NBA star is now the majority owner of the Charlotte Hornets and co-owns a NASCAR team, 23XI Racing. Can you guess his net worth?
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Jami Farkas contributed to the reporting for this article.
Methodology: For this piece, GOBankingRates used Spotrac data to find each NBA player's: (1) playing years; (2) current contract; and (3) career earnings. GOBankingRates also used CelebrityNetWorth.com to find most players' (4) net worth as of Feb 16, 2023. The net worths of Michael Jordan and Le Bron James were sourced from the real-time billionaires list of Forbes.com
This article originally appeared on GOBankingRates.com: How Rich Are LeBron James, Steph Curry and Other NBA Stars?
