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Stephen Curry, right, celebrates with LeBron James, center, and Kevin Durant after the U.S. men’s basketball team beats Serbia in the semifinals at the Paris Olympics on Aug. 8. (Mark J. Terrill / Associated Press)
Stephen Curry signed a one-year, $62.6-million extension Thursday, keeping him with the Golden State Warriors through the 2026-2027 season and elevating his career salaries to more than $500 million.
Curry, 36, would accompany LeBron James and Kevin Durant as the only NBA players to have been paid a half a billion dollars in salary. According to Basketball-Reference.com, Curry has earned $347,844,681 in 15 seasons and is now set to be guaranteed an additional $178 million over the next three seasons for a total of approximately $526 million.
As for the fourth active player who will crack the $500-million barrier by playing the next four years under a contract he signed this summer? That will be ex-Clipper Paul George.
Underscoring the continuous escalating NBA salaries, only two retired players have exceeded even $300 million in salaries: Kevin Garnett ($343,872,398) and Kobe Bryant ($328,238,062).
Salaries is the key word because James, Durant and Curry will have exceeded $1 billion when endorsements are included in their overall earnings. Michael Jordan, who was paid “only” $94,022,500 in salary, has made more money than any other athlete at $2.7 billion — thanks for the most part to Nike.
Read more: Magic Johnson is fourth athlete worth $1 billion. He says Kobe Bryant would’ve been billionaire
Neither James nor Durant has reached $500 million in salaries yet, but both are under contracts that guarantee they will cross the threshold unless they retire first.
James, 39, has made $482,593,928 in 21 seasons, and in July, he agreed to a two-year, $104-million extension with the Lakers. Durant, 35, has made $399,155,146 in 17 seasons and is guaranteed $51.2 million in 2024-2025 and $54.7 million in 2025-2026 with the Phoenix Suns.
The numbers are enough to make the eyes of an average working stiff glaze over. In Curry’s case, the time seemed ripe for him to add a third year to his current deal, the maximum…
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/stephen-curry-joins-lebron-james-223327723.html
Author : LA Times
Publish date : 2024-08-29 22:33:27
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