Top 5 NBA players who make the most money off endorsements

#3 Kevin Durant - $34 million

Kevin Durant of Team United States showing his gold medal at the Tokyo Olympics 2020.

Kevin Durant's abilities on the floor have also contributed to making him one of the richest active NBA players. However, he has proved himself to be a very shrewd businessman, raking in huge sums through various investments.

Durant is due to earn $40.9 million as base salary during the 2021-22 NBA season. But that will make up only 54% of his total earnings.

Kevin Durant scored in November when Uber bought food-delivery service Postmates for $2.65 billion. He invested in the San Francisco startup at a discounted entry price in 2016 in return for his endorsement and turned his $1 million stake into roughly $15 million pic.twitter.com/YBBkDR2Mpp

— Forbes (@Forbes) January 29, 2021

That's because, in 2014, Durant signed a ten-year deal with Nike that has seen him earn $26 million per year and includes a retirement package worth $50 million. There are other endorsements in his portfolio, such as Gatorade, Skullcandy, NBA 2k, etc., which have ramped up his endorsement earnings to $34 million.

The 2020-21 NBA season was relatively successful for Durant despite his loss to the eventual champions. His record-breaking run will set him up for more endorsement opportunities in the coming years.

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#2 Stephen Curry - $40 million

Stephen Curry (#30) of the Golden State Warriors

Stephen Curry is currently the highest-paid NBA player right now. He is due to earn $45.7 million for the 2021-22 season, with his base salary accounting for 52% of his total earnings.

As his salary has increased, there is a high chance his earnings from endorsements might also see an increase. But as things stand now, the NBA's best shooter earns $40 million from endorsements.

Curry is associated with several major brands; the true value of most of his deals are undisclosed, though. One example is his 2015 contract extension with Under Armor, where the details of his new deal were not revealed. However, rumors suggest that the extension includes an equity stake in the company.

Aside from Under Armor, Curry has signed deals with Chase, Nissan Motor, Sony, Unilever and Rakuten, to mention a few.

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#1 LeBron James - $64 million

Premiere off Warner Bros "Space Jam: A New Legacy" - Arrivals

It should come as no surprise to see LeBron James as the No.1 earner off endorsements in the NBA.

James recently hit the $1 billion mark in earnings, becoming the first active athlete in US team sport to achieve that feat. Of his $1 billion, $700 million have come from off-the-court ventures, while the rest have come from salaries.

LeBron James is the top-earning NBA player for the 7th straight year at $95.4 million ($31.4M salary, $64M endorsements).In 2021, his career earnings will hit $1 billion per @Forbes. pic.twitter.com/xDDP7Xuul4

— Front Office Sports (@FOS) January 30, 2021

LeBron James has endorsement deals with major brands like AT&T, Beats by Dre, Nike, Microsoft, PepsiCo, etc. More recently, he partnered with Epic Games to give Fortnite players access to LeBron-themed outfits. In the 2020-21 NBA season, LeBron James' salary accounted for only 32.9% of his total earnings.