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23 hours ago
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The LeBron James era in Philadelphia is going to start in the next few weeks as training camp begins to ramp up and games get ever so closer. The four-time NBA champion will be a part of a reloaded 76ers team after signing James to a small deal.
The former MVP was still one of the biggest names on the market at 41 years old. It was known that he would take a pay cut, but one that became the biggest in NBA history was not expected.
“LeBron took the largest pay cut EVER to join the 76ers. The King just wants to win," Bleacher Report posted.
James took the veteran minimum, which was somewhat expected. It is still such a big difference from the money he has made throughout his entire career. A couple of weeks ago, he announced his partnership in a now-deleted post.
“Welcome to Polymarket HQ. Coming soon. In partnership with Polymarket,” James posted.
The details of the deal were still unknown when he first made the post about it, but after recent reports, the partnership with Polymarket makes tons of sense. James is getting $15 million from the company, which is a huge chunk of what he is making with the 76ers.
“LeBron James will make more money from his Polymarket partnership than from playing for the 76ers, Front Office Sports has learned. The prediction-market platform is paying James $15 million a year under the recently announced partnership, sources tell FOS. James is not an investor in Polymarket, just an endorser, one source says,” Front Office Sports’ Ryan Glasspiegel and Ben Horney wrote.
This still doesn’t add up to the yearly salaries James has had throughout his career, but it does make more sense why he was okay with taking such a small deal. If he knew this partnership was in the works, he chose a team where a deal like this would be allowed.
The historic pay cut of more than 92% makes more sense now than it did when James signed the contract. Doing this sort of thing could create a blueprint for future aging athletes looking to stick around for a while longer.
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