Now he’s cashing in.
Advertisement
(Reuters/Dennis Wierzbicki/USA TODAY Sports)Cleveland Cavaliers forward LeBron James (23) celebrates with teammates after scoring the game winning basket in the second half of game four of the second round of the NBA Playoffs against the Chicago Bulls at the United Center.
The LeBron James banner that hangs off the Sherwin-Williams global headquarters will not come down during the upcoming Republican National Convention in downtown Cleveland, the company announced Tuesday.
According to ESPN, James has begun a process that could see him become the NBA’s first $200 million man, and the highest-paid player for a single season in league history in 2017.
Love signed a five-year contract with Cleveland last summer, but he’s been an awkward fit with the team’s current roster.
LeBron James could end up signing two year deals until he retires due to a CBA ruling concerning long term contracts.
The four-time MVP was set to make $24m next year but by opting out, James can sign a new contract, up to the maximum amount, which stands at about $27.5m.
It’s unlikely James takes this route.
“The reason for this is complicated in contract language and maths”.
The former part of the bargain is done. He won the Most Valuable Player of the Year Award four times.
But he will just do so with a lot more money, with the NBA’s salary cap increasing by more than $20 million.
There was little chance that James was ever leaving Cleveland in his second year back with the team, even as they trailed the Warriors 3-1 in the finals. But he won’t be going to the Olympics this summer – “I could use the rest”, James said last week. I do think you saw the core of our team, it fits together and it’s capable of doing some very special things and I do think we would like to keep it together.
He later remarked, “I told my team, get one, of we can win one on their floor we’ll win the championship”. “That’s what it was all about”.
After two years of scheming and gambling to sign a giant contract, James’ earning possibilities could actually be limited by this obscure rule, throwing a potential knife into his plan. The NBA projects the 2017-18 cap at 8 million, likely a low estimate at this point given recent trends. The question now is how many years will James sign for.
Advertisement
Despite these clutch shots in the fourth quarter, the sequence I will never forget is James’ blocked shot with 1:51 left in the game.
