NBA Players are some of the highest paid athletes based on yearly salary, in fact three of the top ten athletes in the world are professional basketball players. These names should be recognizable to you as they are are also three of the most well known NBA players right now. LeBron James, Kevin Durant and Kobe Bryant. These players not only make a substantial amount of money on a per game basis but their popularity and skills also make them prime candidates for endorsement deals.

These endorsement deals are what really rake in the cash. Less than half of LeBron’s annual earnings are actually from playing basketball. He makes $44 million in various endorsements including Nike, McDonald’s, Coca-Cola, Samsung, Beats by Dre, Upper Deck, Tencent and Audemars Piguet and most recently Kia Motors. A similar story can be told for each of the other top earners in the athlete realm.