Michael Jordan trounces LeBron James by staggering $2.27 billion to top list of highest paid athletes of all time

As two of the greatest basketball players ever, Michael Jordan and LeBron James are often compared to one another. The LA Lakers star finds himself falling short of "His Airness" again on a recent all-time list.

Though players didn't make nearly as much when Jordan played as they do today, the six-time champion has still managed to do well for himself. His brand is still one of the biggest in sports today, despite his playing career ending over two decades ago.

LeBron has had similar success with his off-the-court ventures, but still finds himself chasing MJ on numerous fronts.

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Michael Jordan way ahead of LeBron James on highest paid athletes list

On Tuesday, Sportico put out an updated list of the highest-paid athletes of all time. It featured some of the top names across all sports, such as Tiger Woods, Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi.

Coming in at the top spot on this list was Michael Jordan at a whopping $4.15 billion. LeBron is also in the top five, but is trailing the Chicago Bulls icon by a wide margin. To this point, the 21-time All-Star had made $1.88 billion, trailing Jordan by a total of $2.27 billion.

This disparity between the two is even more impressive when you account for their drastic differences in pay as players. During his 15 years in the league, Michael Jordan made a total of $94 million. To put that into further context, LeBron signed a two-year extension with the Lakers last summer for $101.3 million. For his entire career, he's made over five times what MJ did ($581.3 million and counting).

Aside from their career earnings, their respective Nike deals are a prominent figure in what they've made over the years. They are two of the biggest athletes partnered with the icon brand, and each has a lifetime deal with the company.

Another thing the two NBA legends have in common is they've both broken into the world of alcohol. Back in 2019, Jordan launched his own tequila brand Cincoro. A year later, LeBron decided to enter the space by investing in Lobos 1707.

While LeBron has put together an impressive resumé on and off the court, this might be one list he never ends up catching Jordan on. MJ continues to thrive in the business world, also making him one of the best entrepreneur athletes. His own brands are still going strong, leaving LeBron will little opportunity to shrink the sizable gap between them.