For the 2012-2013 season NBA players will earn astronomical amounts, to the surprise of no one. Players raking in millions to go out and play a game that they grew up loving. The 2012 U.S.A. men’s basketball team has a roster made up of the highest paid players in the NBA. But does talent equal more money or is it more than that?
The 2012 Men’s U.S.A. basketball team is made up of 12 elite players from the NBA. For the upcoming year the total earnings of the entire U.S.A. team is $184,378,691 U.S. dollars. This amount is the sum of each players salary for the 2012-2013 season. It’s quite insane that only 12 basketball player salaries add up to that amount.
There are factors to consider when questioning how much a player makes in regards to his skill. Yes talent usually means making the big bucks but sometimes it’s more than that. Lets take a look at some factors.
Lebron James holds the current MVP title in the NBA and has just won his first NBA championship. James has been outstanding ever since he first got drafted in 2003. He’s arguably the best player in the league. I’m not saying he’s the best player and I’m not saying he’s not the best player. His numbers are outstanding, he plays really well and he just silenced a lot of his critics with a championship win. But there is just supernatural talent from a number of other players that makes the argument, well, arguable.
If you add all these factors up, you would think his contract is the highest out of every player in the league. That’s wrong. There are three players on the Men’s USA basketball team who will earn more in their contracts. Kobe Bryant, Carmelo Anthony, and Chris Paul have higher paid contracts.
Bryant will earn $27,849,149, Anthony will earn $20,463,024, Paul will earn $17,779,458 and James will earn $17,545,000.
Once upon a time Bryant was arguably the best player in the league, that ship has sailed and Bryant is rapidly descending into retirement. Why is he still earning more than everyone else in the league? Well there are three big reasons: his contract states so, he’s still better than a lot of players and he has championship experience.
When a player of Bryant’s caliber signs a contract it’s usually a big one for a number of years. Thus when the contract was offered to Bryant certain factors were taken into consideration. Factors like how well he played at the time of signing and how well they think he will play after that.
Anthony has yet to make it passed the first round of the NBA playoffs so why is he earning more than James? It’s because Anthony plays for the second highest grossing team in the NBA, the New York Knicks. James could have made even more than Anthony had he chose to play for New York a couple of years back.
James went to Miami and signed a contract for a lesser amount that he would have received elsewhere. I mean $17.5 million is still a ridiculous amount of money but he could have had a higher paying contract.
Contracts are usually major contributing factors to player fortunes but in James’s case it only accounts for some of the income that he makes. One of the probable reasons why James didn’t mind taking a contract of a lesser amount is because he has many endorsement deals. When James first joined the league he signed a whopping $90-million-dollar contract with Nike, he also has deals with McDonald’s, Coca Cola and State farm.
According to celebrity net worth on the richest.org, James has an estimated net worth of $110 million dollars. Bryant has an estimated net worth of $200 million and Anthony is estimated at $60 million. Bryant has the highest net worth in the NBA with James trailing not too far way. Bryant’s wife filed for divorce and this can have a major impact on Bryant’s net worth, I doubt he will ever be poor but his ranking will surely drop. Until then Bryant has the highest net worth.
