Kobe: Gettin’ Money
Kobe Bryant (photo. Chris Sembrot)
Like you needed another reason to hate on Kobe. Forbes unveiled its list of the world’s highest-paid athletes in 2009, and Kobe is near the top, along with a few other NBA players. Combining salary and endorsements, here are the notables:
* Tiger Woods is #1 with approximately $110 million in earnings in the last year. (And consider that Tiger missed a lot of opportunities at tournament prize money due to his knee injury.)
* Kobe is tied for second place with Michael Jordan and Formula One driver Kimi Raikkonen at $45 million.
* LeBron is tied for sixth ($40 million) with Manny Pacquiao and golfer Phil Mickelson.
* Shaq ($33 million) is tied for 11th with Roger Federer.
* Kevin Garnett ($30 million) is tied for 17th with NASCAR driver Jeff Gordon, Derek Jeter and soccer superstar Ronaldinho.
-->
June 19th, 2009 at 9:08 am
iannyb says:
wow Tiger’s figures are staggering,some crazy monies right there.keep racking in those millions Kobe.Go Lakers
June 19th, 2009 at 9:13 am
rodnets says:
I wont hate him more because he is paid for to do his job.
A different matter is if you ask me about his selfishness and lack of respect for his teammates. Thats a different point.
June 19th, 2009 at 9:17 am
jryu says:
reading articles like this make me wish i was genetically gifted….
i make in the ballpark of one one-freaking-THOUSANDTH of what kobe makes.
so basically if i worked 1000 years @ my job, i could make what kobe made in 2008-2009. hahaha that’s awesome.
June 19th, 2009 at 9:19 am
mike says:
Tiger donates all his tour winnings to charity anyways.
June 19th, 2009 at 9:36 am
heartbreaker85 says:
manny pacquiao made 40 million dollars?
damn, he can buy his own province with that money. yaman boy!
June 19th, 2009 at 9:59 am
fallinup says:
But just think though. Kobe lost 10′s of millions in endorsements during that rape trial. I imagine Kobe would be pulling Tiger numbers is not for this image crusade he’s had to be on since the trial.
Keep kissin them daughters, Kobe!
June 19th, 2009 at 10:00 am
Jeronimo says:
Wow! Michael Jordan was second, and he retired ages ago.
June 19th, 2009 at 10:00 am
s.bucketz says:
i was jus doin 1 of those quizzes on sporcle.com (check it out if ur reallllly bored at the office) and i was suprised to see durants name towards the top of the list…he was at like 25.9 last year while d-wade tmac and carmello wer all around the 24-25 mark..can someone double check that cuz it did not sound right
June 19th, 2009 at 10:02 am
Vinny Chase says:
dzaaah! pacquiao is like a foot shorter than all the athletes on the list and making arab money
June 19th, 2009 at 10:23 am
Gerard says:
I’m the most surprised by Ronaldinho. He can’t be the top soccer player on the list, right?
June 19th, 2009 at 10:30 am
dk says:
@6 Hey factoid, there was no trial cause every one includin the state of CO new she was lying. Read a book.
Ill say it again, a true testament of his charachter to not ask for the billion hes worth.
June 19th, 2009 at 10:46 am
haha says:
How bout cristiano ronaldo?
June 19th, 2009 at 11:36 am
nick says:
@dk
just because there wasn’t a trail don’t mean it aint gonna affect endorsements. your name gets out there in the press and everyone hears about it, that company that is paying you doesn’t want to hear anything negative towards a player they are sponsoring so it can have huge negative effects even if you don’t go to a trail.
i’m suprised lebron aint making more considering all his endorsements.
June 19th, 2009 at 11:45 am
Drink the Haterade says:
@ Dime-
I noticed that you put everyone except Kobe in bold letters, why the hate?
June 19th, 2009 at 11:48 am
fallinup says:
@ dk
Fuck off, Mr. Particular….so he settled and paid her off.
You know what the fuck I meant, douche bag.
June 19th, 2009 at 11:52 am
Kermit the Washington says:
I agree that DK is nit-picking, but since we’re on the subject…
Did Kobe settle and pay her off, or was the case dismissed? I can’t remember, but I thought there was something that happened with DNA evidence that made them throw the whole thing out, no?
June 19th, 2009 at 11:55 am
fallinup says:
She filed a civil suit the second she knew the criminal case would go no where. Bryant settled and payed an undisclosed some.
Ooooh, look at me…I smartedededed. Like, dk.
June 19th, 2009 at 12:11 pm
Kermit the Washington says:
Ohhh yeah, I forgot about that. She probably would’ve lost that civil suit too, but he couldn’t take another court ordeal I’m sure.
Unless they were gonna be on some OJ: “you aren’t GUILTY of raping her, but you’re RESPONSIBLE for her getting raped”…
June 19th, 2009 at 12:29 pm
dk says:
Look, Im not a grammar commando ( @ ” trail ” ) and I was half kidding to make the point. But when you speak blasephemy, the point must be made..
Furthermore he didnt give the ho money civily either.
June 19th, 2009 at 12:32 pm
doc says:
She aint lose nothing.Kobe kicked that keep this under wraps money.
June 19th, 2009 at 12:33 pm
dk says:
@15 He gave her a care package of Canal street merchandise that was donated, fake rolex, louis vuttoin bags*, perfumes etc. . Also a life time supply of mountain trail mix, kleenex and clorox.
June 19th, 2009 at 12:40 pm
JuiceMode says:
The Pacman tied 6th with LeBron and Big Lefty at 40 mil?!
Wonder if it includes his winnings from cockfighting. He’s been owning most of the big-time slasher derbies/tournaments all over the country…
June 19th, 2009 at 12:42 pm
JuiceMode says:
And no mention of David Beckham on the list? Find that hard to believe…
June 19th, 2009 at 12:45 pm
JuiceMode says:
Beckham is 5th… DOH!
June 19th, 2009 at 2:05 pm
LakeShow84 says:
Tiger Woods bout to beat Lebron as the first billionaire athlete..
June 19th, 2009 at 4:17 pm
Knock Knock says:
lmao as much as nike puts lebron on everything it advertises. hilarious that he’s making as much as manny.
June 19th, 2009 at 7:52 pm
"Tha Boddy" Doin It For Love says:
Damn Tiger gettin money while he was injured and it’s all clean
June 19th, 2009 at 7:53 pm
smoove chips says:
That’s how you know you the shyt.
2nd.And you ain’t playing ??
Money..Much.respect
(course if kobe hadn’t made that slight detour in Colorado …)
June 19th, 2009 at 8:01 pm
Kalan F. says:
I am a bit surprized that Kobe tops the NBA players. I thought that it would be LeBron making the most money among NBA players. He’s dropped a bit. This is a big turn around for Kobe after what happened in Colorado a few years back. It’s not a shock that Tiger is number one, but for Kobe to top LeBron is a bit of a shock to me.
June 19th, 2009 at 8:09 pm
ponky_alolor says:
@27, yeah u got it right. MJ still pulling in the dollars despite not playing.
He’s the standard bearer 4 kobe and lebron.