I can understand players not liking this list. I wouldn’t want people counting my pockets either! BUT as a fan, I love to see these kinds of lists. It’s just a natural curiosity for me. Yesterday, Sports Illustrated came out with it’s Fortune 50 where it lists the top 50 highest paid athletes. Floyd Mayweather came in first and LeBron came in a distant second.
Well Bosh doesn’t like the list and spoke about it in a recent interview. LeBron also reacted to coming in after Mayweather. Check out what they had to say…
Via CHRIS TOMASSON at FoxSports:
When Sports Illustrated came out with its Fortunate 50, a list of America’s highest-paid athletes, Heat stars LeBron James (second) and Dwyane Wade (11th) obviously were on the list. But so was Bosh, who came in at No. 47.
He wasn’t thrilled about that.
“I wish they would stop doing that,’’ Bosh told FOX Sports Florida. “Because everybody knows. … Sports Illustrated, a lot of people read that. But it is what it is. It’s part of the job.’’
Bosh recently had his Miami home broken into, with nearly $500,000 worth of goods stolen. He said that isn’t necessarily why he doesn’t like his income publicized so much, but that it creates distractions.
“People are like, ‘Hey, you’re making this much money,’ ’’ Bosh said. “It’s like, ‘Golly, I don’t even know how much you make. But at least let’s come to the table at the same time.’ But we’re under the public eye.’’
Yet all of this doesn’t mean Bosh wouldn’t mind making even more money. His salary is $17.545 million, and Sports Illustrated lists him as having $1 million in endorsements, bringing his annual take to $18.545 million.
“I take whatever comes. I’m familiar with my situation,” Bosh said about his endorsements being way lower than what James and Wade bring in. “I know that things aren’t always going to come out of anywhere for me. But, if I get some, I’m happy with it …. I’m always open to more. I’m a businessman. So we’ll see how it goes.’’
James, whose salary is $17.545 million, is listed by Sports Illustrated as having $39 million in endorsements to bring his annual figure to $56.545 million. Wade, whose salary is $17.182 million, is listed as having $11.5 million in endorsements, making his total $28.682 million.
When asked how he felt about being No. 2 (behind only boxer Floyd Mayweather Jr.’s $90 million), James bristled, “That has nothing to do with basketball.’’
Sounds as if James also isn’t too keen on Sports Illustrated’s list.
