LeBron James is going to get paid — again.
Fresh off signing a two-year, $42 million contract with the Cleveland Cavaliers, James is lined up to haul in another massive deal once his current contract expires. That was a given under any conditions, but even more so now that the NBA has signed a new TV deal reportedly worth more than $2.5 billion annually.
What does that mean for James? The four-time Most Valuable Player and his fellow NBA players are entitled to roughly half of all basketball-related revenue made by the league, which means when the new TV deal kicks in for the 2016-17 season, James and his colleagues could see an explosion in salaries.
Tom Ziller at SB Nation ran the numbers and found that James, who will be a free agent in the summer of 2016, could be eligible for a five-year deal worth $190 million.
James will not be the only player to cash in, with members of last year’s rookie crop perhaps best positioned to take a huge jump in earnings once their rookie deals expire. A sudden increase in the salary cap and luxury tax line also could have a significant impact on non-contenders like the Boston Celtics.
It appears the rich will only get richer — and richer, and richer, and richer.
Photo via Ken Blaze/USA TODAY Sports Images
