The Milwaukee Bucks superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo is the 12th highest-paid athlete in the world with $71.9M in total earnings over the past year, according to Sportico.
$35.9M is his salary, while $36M comes from endorsements. The Greek Freak is associated with such well-known world brands as Nike, Google, Disney, JBL, WhatsApp, etc.
Antetokounmpo's numbers on the court this season are as impressive as outside the floor.
In the 2021-22 NBA regular season, he was third in scoring at 29.9 points and seventh in rebounding with an 11.6 per-game average. He also averaged 5.8 assists, 1.4 blocks, and 1.1 steals per game.
Giannis is one of 36 basketball players that have made the list of 100 highest-paid athletes in the world.
Rudy Gobert (69th place, $33 million), Kristaps Porzingis (75th, $32.5 million), and Nikola Jokic (98th, $29.9 million) are NBA Europeans, who made the cut as well.
The 37-year-old LeBron James earned $127M during the past 12 months from the Los Angeles Lakers and his expanding off-court empire, according to Sportico estimates. It's the highest tally of his two-decade career and more than any other athlete on the planet.
James has the NBA's biggest shoe deal among active players and a deep roster of endorsement partners beyond Nike, including Rimowa, Walmart, GMC, AT&T, PepsiCo, and most recently Crypto.com.
The top 100 athletes play 10 different sports and collectively earned an estimated $4.5 billion in salary, prize money, and endorsements over the last 12 months — a 6% increase from last year's best-paid stars.
James tops a trio of global soccer stars and a boxer, as Lionel Messi ($122 million), Cristiano Ronaldo ($115 million), Neymar ($103 million), and Canelo Alvarez ($89 million) round out the top five.
Top 15 highest-paid athletes in the world:
Athlete | Sport | Total earnings |
LeBron James | Basketball | $126.9M |
Lionel Messi | Soccer | $122M |
Cristiano Ronaldo | Soccer | $115M |
Neymar | Soccer | $103M |
Canelo Alvarez | Boxing | $89M |
Stephen Curry | Basketball | $86.2M |
Kevin Durant | Basketball | $85.9M |
Roger Federer | Tennis | $85.7M |
James Harden | Basketball | $76M |
Tiger Woods | Golf | $73.5M |
Matthew Stafford | American football | $73.3M |
Giannis Antetokounmpo | Basketball | $71.9M |
Russell Westbrook | Basketball | $69.8M |
Tyson Fury | Boxing | $69M |
Josh Allen | American football | $66.5M |
Full list can be found here.
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