Sneaker contracts remain a significant source of top NBA players’ income, even with the current state of massive NBA contracts. Nine-figure shoe deals are becoming more of the norm for the very best players, as shoe companies shell out major cash for the rights to sell the best players’ sneakers.
So, it should come as no surprise that seven current NBA players topped the $10 million mark in 2016 in money made off of their shoe contracts, according to Forbes. That number will only rise as players move from rookie shoe deals to larger, more lucrative partnerships with Nike, adidas, Under Armour, Jordan, and the rest.
LeBron James, unsurprisingly, led all current players with $32 million made in 2016 off of his Nike deal. James’ signature sneakers from Nike are the best-selling shoe among current players, just ahead of Cavs teammate and fellow Nike athlete Kyrie Irving. James recently inked a lifetime deal with Nike that many have estimated will pay out close to $1 billion once it’s all said and done. At $32 million this year, that billion dollar mark seems well within reach.
The others that broke the eight-figure mark in 2016 were Kevin Durant ($25 million), Kobe Bryant ($16 million), James Harden ($14 million), Steph Curry ($12 million), Derrick Rose ($11 million), and Damian Lillard ($10 million). That makes for three Nike athletes, three adidas athletes, and one Under Armour athlete as the richest in the world right now. Dwyane Wade and Kyrie Irving both made $8 million from Li Ning and Nike respectively, and based off Irving’s shoe sales, one would expect that whenever his current deal is done, he will vault near the top of the sneaker earnings list.
While all of that is nice, and LeBron made just as much from shoes as he did from hoops last year, no one is even close to touching Michael Jordan on the shoe market. Jordan raked in $110 million — $78 million more than James in second place — from Nike thanks to $2.8 billion in revenues for the 2016 fiscal year for Jordan Brand. The big boss man at Jordan pulled in nine figures this year alone thanks to those massive sale numbers — Forbes says Jordan’s revenues were up 18 percent over 2015 — and he remains the king of the shoe game with no real competition. For comparison, Jordan made as much as the top six current players — LeBron to Rose — combined in 2016.
For those wondering why LaVar Ball and Lonzo Ball eschewing the traditional sneaker contract route to launch Big Baller Brand was such a big deal and such a unique situation, it’s because of these numbers. The money made off of sneaker contracts can be a significant portion of a players’ total earnings for a year — LeBron and Durant are close to an even split on basketball earnings to Nike earnings — and by going away from Nike, adidas, and the rest, Ball is taking a significant gamble on his ability to create something on his own that can bring in revenue.
