As comedian Chris Rock pointed out some years ago, there is a difference between being rich and being wealthy. His example was a professional basketball player who is rich, while the owner of the team, who pays that player, is wealthy. A contract offer to a French soccer player would make him wealthy.
forwp-incontent-custom-banner ampforwp-incontent-ad1">According to Front Office Sports, 24-year-old Kylian Mbappé has been offered a contract that surpasses the lifetime earnings of Los Angeles Lakers savior LeBron James.
Saudi Arabian soccer team Al-Hilal was offered a record-setting $332 million transfer fee to be paid to Mbappe’s current team. The actual contract for the player would be a salary of $776 million for one year.
James has brought home $531 million throughout his two-decade NBA career.
Even after hearing about that contract offer, James commented on Twitter, ready to head to Saudi Arabia. He posted a clip of Tom Hanks’ “Forrest Gump” character running extremely fast down a road.
At only 24, Mbappe already makes more per year than James does, according to Forbes’ latest World’s 10 Highest-Paid Athletes 2023. He beat “King James” by a mere half a million as he made $120 million this past year compared to James taking home $119.5 million. He also has the highest-paying salary in soccer and came in at No. 3 on the list. He was the top-earning Black athlete at that time.
RELATED CONTENT: LeBron James’ Historic Game-Winning Ticket is on the Auction Block, Expected to Sell for Over $5K