Golden State Warriors superstar Stephen Curry is the second-highest paid athlete between May 1, 2024 and May 1, 2025, according to Forbes.
Curry earned $156M, of which $100M was earned away from basketball. LeBron James is the second-highest paid basketball player on the list at $133.8M which is good for sixth overall.
Cristiano Ronaldo is the highest-paid athlete at a gargantuan $275M courtesy his massive $225M contract to play in Saudi Arabia.
Only Major League Baseball superstar Shohei Ohtani earned as much as Curry in endorsements.
The only other basketball player to make the top 10 is Kevin Durant at $101.4M. He made $51.4M on the court and $50M off it.
Other basketball players to crack the top 30 are Giannis Antetokounmpo (13th) and teammate Damian Lillard (29th). 10 other players made the top 50 list. Anthony Edwards is the third-highest paid athlete among those 25 years old or younger.
This year’s top 50 earned a whopping total of $4.23 billion, topping last year’s mark of $3.88 billion.
NBA Dominates Forbes’ Top 50 List
No sport had more representatives on the list than basketball with 16. The closest was American football with 13 NFL players.
Soccer, despite having three of the top eight in Ronaldo, Lionel Messi (5th), and Karim Benzema (8th), only have five other representatives.
Below is a list of all the basketball players to make the list and their earnings. Eleven of the 16 are American.
$156M – Steph Curry (2nd)
$133.8M – LeBron James (6th)
$101.4M – Kevin Durant (10th)
$94.4M – Giannis Antetokounmpo (13th)
$67.5M – Damian Lillard (29th)
$62.1M – Anthony Edwards (33rd)
$61.2M – Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (35th)
$60.4M – Joel Embiid (36th)
$59.8M – Jimmy Butler (37th)
$58.5M – Luka Doncic (38th)
$58.3M – Devin Booker (39th)
$58.2M – Bradley Beal (40th)
$57.6M – Nikola Jokic (41st)
$57.3M – Kawhi Leonard (42nd)
$56.3M – Paul George (43rd)
$55.8M – Jayson Tatum (44th)
With the way NBA salaries are expected to continue escalating in the coming years, it won’t be a surprise for the domination to only grow.
The league struck a huge broadcasting rights deal that kicks in next season, and that’s when several more contracts will enter the range of eligibility.
