LeBron James is now officially back with the Los Angeles Lakers. The veteran megastar signed his new two-year contract on Saturday. But according to ESPN’s Bobby Marks, There was something there that hadn’t been revealed: a pay cut.
“Little” is definitely the word to describe this pay cut. It was originally reported that he was set to make the maximum $104 million in this deal, but the final amount is reportedly $101.35 million. That means a pay cut of $2.65 million.
Now, there’s no denying that $101 million is less than $104 million. A pay cut is when you get paid less than you were previously, and LeBron’s situation fits the dictionary definition to the letter.
But in the history of pay cuts in sports, this one falls into the “just technically a pay cut” category. This isn’t Aaron Judge or Shohei Ohtani leaving tens of millions on the table to sign their No. 1 choice. This is LeBron James, the first active NBA player to become a billionaire. If his fortune were paid out in specially minted million-dollar coins, two or three could disappear (as a bunch of loose change always does) and he’d never notice.
This is the rich man’s version of a small favor. Had LeBron signed for the max, the Lakers would have moved up to the second tier, which brings a new set of penalties for teams that spend more than a certain level. Not only would they have to match every dollar they overspend ($190 million) and pay it back to the league, but they wouldn’t have any mid-level exceptions.
But according to Marks, LeBron “returning” nearly $3 million to the Lakers means they will avoid those second penalties by roughly $45,000.
