LeBron James makes history by breaking $1 billion barrier

Lakers star LeBron James has made NBA history by becoming the first active NBA player to officially achieve billionaire status.

Los Angeles Lakers superstar LeBron James has become the first active player in NBA history with a net worth of $US1 billion ($AUD1.4 billion), Forbes magazine reports.

The 37-year-old forward, a four-time NBA champion and four-time NBA Most Valuable Player, ranks second on the league’s all-time scoring list and has played in the league since 2003.

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In the Forbes list of highest-paid world athletes from May 2021 to May 2022, James ranked second in total income with $166 million, trailing only Argentine football star Lionel Messi’s $180 million.

The Lakers struggled to a 33-49 season and James missed the playoffs for only the fourth time in his career, but he still became the oldest player to average 30 points a game, hitting 30.3 per contest.

In a 19-year NBA career, James has made more than $530 million in salary alone as a player for the Cleveland Cavaliers, Miami Heat and Lakers.

LeBron hustles with the best of them. (Photo by Kevin Winter/Getty Images)

Off the court, James took a star turn in Hollywood with the film Space Jam: A New Legacy and sold a minority stake in his production company, SpringHill.

More than $680 million of his value comes from cash and investments. James has an ownership stage in Fenway Sports Group, which owns English Premier League side Liverpool, Major League Baseball’s Boston Red Sox and made a deal to buy the NHL’s Pittsburgh Penguins.

His stake in Blaze Pizza is estimated to be worth $40 million while his $110 million in real estate holdings includes a mansion in his hometown of Akron, Ohio, and two homes in Los Angeles.

“It’s my biggest milestone,” James said about becoming a billionaire in a 2014 cover story with GQ. “Obviously. I want to maximise my business. And if I happen to get it, if I happen to be a billion-dollar athlete, ho. Hip hip hooray! Oh, my God, I’m gonna be excited.”

Michael Jordan is the only other NBA player to crack the $1 billion threshold, but didn’t do so until 2014, more than a decade after he retired.

With the New York Post

Originally published as LeBron James makes history by breaking $1 billion barrier