Giannis Antetokounmpo makes Top 15 highest-paid athletes in the world / News - Basketnews.com

Credit: AFP - Scanpix Credit AFP - Scanpix

The Milwaukee Bucks superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo is the 12th highest-paid athlete in the world with $71.9M in total earnings over the past year, according to Sportico.

Giannis Antetokounmpo

MIN:33.35PTS:30.04 (60.84%)REB:11.79As:5.9ST:1BL:1.35TO:3.4GM:77ProfileNBA2021/2022

$35.9M is his salary, while $36M comes from endorsements. The Greek Freak is associated with such well-known world brands as Nike, Google, Disney, JBL, WhatsApp, etc.

Antetokounmpo's numbers on the court this season are as impressive as outside the floor.

In the 2021-22 NBA regular season, he was third in scoring at 29.9 points and seventh in rebounding with an 11.6 per-game average. He also averaged 5.8 assists, 1.4 blocks, and 1.1 steals per game.

Giannis is one of 36 basketball players that have made the list of 100 highest-paid athletes in the world.

Rudy Gobert(69th place, $33 million),Kristaps Porzingis(75th, $32.5 million), andNikola Jokic(98th, $29.9 million) are NBA Europeans, who made the cut as well.

Credit Sportico

The 37-year-old LeBron James earned $127M during the past 12 months from the Los Angeles Lakers and his expanding off-court empire, according to Sportico estimates. It's the highest tally of his two-decade career and more than any other athlete on the planet.

James has the NBA's biggest shoe deal among active players and a deep roster of endorsement partners beyond Nike, including Rimowa, Walmart, GMC, AT&T, PepsiCo, and most recently Crypto.com.

The top 100 athletes play 10 different sports and collectively earned an estimated $4.5 billion in salary, prize money, and endorsements over the last 12 months — a 6% increase from last year's best-paid stars.

James tops a trio of global soccer stars and a boxer, as Lionel Messi ($122 million), Cristiano Ronaldo ($115 million), Neymar ($103 million), and Canelo Alvarez ($89 million) round out the top five.

Top 15 highest-paid athletes in the world:

Athlete Sport Total earnings LeBron James Basketball $126.9M Lionel Messi Soccer $122M Cristiano Ronaldo Soccer $115M Neymar Soccer $103M Canelo Alvarez Boxing $89M Stephen Curry Basketball $86.2M Kevin Durant Basketball $85.9M Roger Federer Tennis $85.7M James Harden Basketball $76M Tiger Woods Golf $73.5M Matthew Stafford American football $73.3M Giannis Antetokounmpo Basketball $71.9M Russell Westbrook Basketball $69.8M Tyson Fury Boxing $69M Josh Allen American football $66.5M

Full list can be found here.

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