LeBron James Will Earn $88.9 Million This Season On A Minimum Philadelphia 76ers Deal, Most Of It From Sponsors

LeBron James in his Philadelphia 76ers No. 23 jersey© Instagram/@kingjames

LeBron James took a big pay cut to join the Philadelphia 76ers, but it has hardly dented his income. He signed a veteran-minimum contract worth about $3.9 million, a long way down from the $52.6 million he made with the Lakers last season. Even so, Sportico projects him to take home $88.9 million in 2026-27, the fourth-highest figure in the NBA. Almost all of it comes from off-court deals. Away from his own earnings, LeBron has also backed a new youth basketball league, which launched this week with a group of well-known investors.

How LeBron James Makes $88.9 Million On A Minimum 76ers Deal

The Sixers are barely part of the story. His team salary ranks around 289th in the league, and it makes up a tiny slice of the total. Sportico says roughly $85 million will come from outside basketball.

His list of sponsors has also changed a lot. PepsiCo, GMC and AT&T are gone, and Louis Vuitton, Mercedes-Benz, Polymarket and Whoop have taken their place. Add in sneakers, royalties, media work and memorabilia, and the off-court side adds up fast. Sportico builds these figures by speaking to industry insiders, and they are before taxes and agent fees.

LeBron has always earned more from endorsements than from his contracts, but the gap has never been this wide. Only Kevin Durant also makes more from brands than from his job on the court. That leaves LeBron free to take a discount and chase another title, since his business empire is covering the bills.

LeBron James And Maverick Carter Back New Futures Basketball League

LeBron and his longtime business partner Maverick Carter are among the investors in the Futures Basketball League, a new league for the country's top under-18 boys players. Their stake is held through LRMR Ventures, their family office and investment firm. Kevin Durant and Rich Kleiman's Boardroom Sports Holdings, Derrick Rose, Paolo Banchero and Gary Vaynerchuk are also owners, and MADE Hoops runs the operations.

The league will have 120 players spread across 12 regional teams, who will play over 10 league weekends from April to August in 2027. Players can sign NIL deals with outside brands, and they can be paid in cash, league equity or both. Signing has already begun for athletes in the classes of 2028 to 2031, and the league will name them in the coming weeks.

Carter said interest in these players is at an all-time high, and he believes Futures has the right setup to help them grow. The league is also giving $1 million to the MADE Hoops nonprofit, which will go toward scholarships, programs and facilities.

With the new season underway, LeBron's name is appearing in the league standings and the business pages at the same time.