Ben Simmons to overtake Greg Norman as Australia’s highest-earning sportsman

Aussie basketball star Ben Simmons is on the verge of signing a contract extension with his NBA team worth an eye-watering $240m that will put him well on the way to being the highest-earning Australian sportsperson of all time.

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Basketball superstar Ben Simmons is used to picking off opposition defences and, with his new bumper contract under his arm, he’s now set to go Shark hunting.

Simmons is on track to blow the legendary Greg Norman out of the water and become the highest earning Australian athlete of all-time.

The 22-year-old is one of the hottest commodities in the US, with his NBA team the Philadelphia 76ers this week offering him a $240.4 million five-year contract extension. Add in the league’s new salary cap projections and this figure is expected to bump his contract to $243.2 million.

And if Simmons — who already sports the bling and luxury cars of the super rich — makes his second consecutive NBA All-Star team next season his contract value will balloon to $286 million. This means the Melbourne-born and Newcastle-raised guard will be netting approximately $50 million a year for five years.

Ben Simmons has been offered a monster deal by his NBA team the Philadelphia 76ers. Picture: AFP

To put that into context, that’s an entire NRL club’s salary cap for 25 years.

This whopping figure, combined with his $37 million rookie contract, will help him eclipse other cashed-up Aussie athletes, including golfer Jason Day, F1 driver Daniel Ricciardo, and fellow top basketballers Matthew Dellavedova and Joe Ingles.

And that’s without even taking into account his endorsement deals. Simmons already has a deal with sportswear giant Nike which is reputed to be worth $20 million over five years, jumping to $40 million with bonuses.

Ben Simmon at New York Fashion Week with NBA legend LeBron James (left) and pop star Justin Bieber. Picture: Getty Images

Simmons was in the headlines as much for his off-court presence as his on-court skills until recently due to his relationship with supermodel Kendall Jenner. The pair split earlier this year but his high profile will have done nothing to damage his earning potential.

Norman has long been the benchmark for Aussie sporting superstars. He earned big bucks during his stellar golfing career and since retiring from the fairways has continued to rake in the cash as the CEO of his own global corporation — the Greg Norman Company.

Norman has also designed more than 100 golf courses across 34 countries, which has helped him amass fortune in excess of $426 million.

Simmons has the potential to overtake the Shark’s mammoth mark in the coming years, as he is already earning megabucks years before he is expected to enter the prime of his career.

Then there is his marketability off the court.

A picture from Ben Simmons’ Instagram page showing him jumping into his Ferrari.

Simmons shares the same agency — Klutch Sports — as NBA megastar LeBron James.

James is heavily invested in business and film, and Simmons also has his sights set on film production having already completed a documentary about his journey from high school to being selected as the No.1 pick in the 2016 NBA draft.

Simmons is also working in conjunction with James’ production company, SpringHill Entertainment, to produce a comedy — Brotherly Love — based on the young Australian’s rise to the NBA.

Ben Simmons heads the list of our top-earning sports stars.

Simmons was born in Melbourne and returned there for high school before heading off to finish his education in the US, but spent the majority of his childhood in Newcastle.

And he says that no matter where he travels in the world there is one particular part of NSW he always misses — Nobbys Beach.

“That’s where I used to go all the time as a young kid fishing. I loved it,” Simmons has said.

When growing up Down Under with his American father Dave — a former professional basketballer, mother Julie and five siblings he played a range of sports including basketball, AFL and rugby league.

Former Newcastle Knight player Marc Glanville coached Simmons at South Newcastle for three years in the mid-2000s.

Ben Simmons as a baby with his father Dave.

“Ben was a very good league player, so we’ll definitely claim him as a Novocastrian,” Glanville told Fox Sports.

If Simmons can maintain his fitness and combine on-court success with off-court endorsements, he could crack the $600 million mark by the time he hangs up his sneakers. This would place him alongside some of the biggest earning basketballers in the history of the game.

James has a net worth of $626 million but retired legends Magic Johnson ($853 million) and Michael Jordan ($2.1 billion) set the benchmark.

Simmons’ significant earning capacity is mind blowing for a bloke like Australian great Andrew Gaze, whose NBA contract with the San Antonio Spurs in 1999 was only worth $654,000.

“I couldn’t be happier for Ben,” Gaze said. “It is a lot of money for Ben but full credit to him. He has had a lot of expectations since high school and he has been able to produce on the floor.”