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Career earnings: $328,237,108
Runner-ups: Klay Thompson, DeMar DeRozan
The legendary Kobe Bryant firmly established himself as the second-greatest shooting guard of all time, a GOAT of the position with one league MVP award, 18 All-Star appearances and 11 1st Team All-NBAs (to go with nine 1st Team All-Defenses). And to go with his unreal peak, he also had great longevity, earning MVP votes all the way until his age-34 season.
That obviously helped Bryant earn a whole lot of money in his career, as he has a firm hold on being the highest-paid 6-foot-6 player in league history. The biggest contract of Bryant’s career surprisingly came all the way back in 2004 when he signed a seven-year, $136.4 million contract with the Los Angeles Lakers. He also signed a hefty three-year, $83.5 million deal with L.A. ahead of the 2010-11 season coming off of back-to-back championships with the Lakers.
Even despite how much money he earned in his career, Bryant’s bank account was still hurt by the era he played in, as his highest single-season salary was worth just $30.5 million (2013-14, the only season he made over $30 million), a number paling in comparison to some of the salaries we see today.
Nevertheless, even if Bryant’s big contracts didn’t age all that well later on in his career, there’s no question he deserved that money considering his peak and loyalty (one trade request aside) to the Lakers.
For more Kobe Bryant career salary info, click here.
