Kevin Durant has one of the best salaries in all of the NBA, which isn’t exactly a surprise given his level of production. In his first year with the Brooklyn Nets, regardless of whether or not he played a single second this season, the forward was set to make $38,199,000 in 2019-20 — just like Washington Wizards guard John Wall.
Only three NBA players had signed to make more than Durant in 2019-20: Golden States’ Steph Curry ($40,231,758), Oklahoma City’s Chirs Paul ($38,506,482) and Houston’s Russell Westbrook ($38,506,482).
Oddly enough, only one of those players ranks ahead of Durant on the recently released list of the world’s highest-paid athletes from Forbes. Curry ($44 million in endorsements and $30.4 million in salary in 2019) ranks a slot ahead of Durant at No. 6, but the Warriors guard isn’t the highest-paid basketball player in the world. That honor belongs to Lakers forward LeBron James ($60 million/$28.2 million), who ranks No. 5 in the world among all athletes.
Durant is the highest-ranked Nets player at No. 7, pulling in $35 million in endorsements in 2019 and $28.9 million in salary. But the forward is not the lone Net to crack the list.
Kyrie Irving ranks No. 24 in the world according to Forbes‘ list. He made $18 million in endorsements last year and $23.9 million in salary.